Rotterdam shooter was 'alcoholic Nazi' who 'tortured animals' before killing three people in gun rampage
29 September 2023, 06:26 | Updated: 29 September 2023, 06:27
The man suspected of being the shooter who killed three people in Rotterdam tortured animals and had Nazi materials on his phone.
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The shooter, named as Fouad L in local media, opened fire at a home in the Dutch city and then set it alight at about 14:00 local time before attacking the Erasmus Medical Centre
A woman, 39, and her daughter, 14, died in the home while a lecturer, 43, named as Jurgen Damen, was killed at the hospital.
Rotterdam Police Department said a 32-year-old, who was a student at Erasmus University Medical Centre, had been arrested and was suspected of being involved in both incidents. A motive has not yet been officially established.
But officers found horrific images on Fouad L's phone, including Nazi and right-wing extremist materials, as well as videos of people being stabbed to death, according to Dutch media.
He had previously been interrogated by police over reports of torturing animals, including his dog and pet rabbits. He is said to have told officers that he is an alcoholic and has Asperger's syndrome. The 39-year-old woman shot dead is believed to have reported him for animal abuse.
Fouad L also appears to have made a series of disturbing posts on the extremist forum 4Chan, Algemeen Dagblad reported.
He called for "death to all normies [normal people] and spoke of long-running arguments with teachers at university.
One 4Chan post, purportedly by Fouad L, said he had been kicked out of medical school because of the incident with his dog.
The post also said he was a "clairvoyant genius, bordering on predicting the future".
A man in camouflage was taken away from the hospital in handcuffs after specialist units swept onto the scene.
Police were not searching for a second shooter.
Videos posted online showed police instructing students, some wearing medical gowns, to run outside as heavily armed officers arrived at the scene.
Fires broke out at both locations after the shootings occurred.
The Erasmus Medical Centre posted online: “Due to various incidents, we currently ask you not to come to Erasmus MC.”
Photos at the scene of the incident show a sign posted on the inside window of the university building which reads “we can’t get out” in Dutch.
Other images captured at the scene show medical staff running as they were rushed out the hospital building.
"This is a very dark day," caretaker Minister of Justice and Security Dilan Yesilgöz toldnewspaper de Telegraaf.
