THE HAGUE: A person with a firearm who held a number of folks hostage at Apple’s flagship store in central Amsterdam was overpowered late Tuesday after a siege lasting a number of hours, police mentioned, including that the final of the hostages had been freed.
Police had deployed a number of particular items to “get the situation under control” after being alerted of an armed theft at 5.40pm (1640 GMT) which had quickly reworked right into a hostage scenario.
Police mentioned the gunman was “lying on the street and a robot was examining him for explosives” in entrance of the store in Leidseplein within the coronary heart of the Dutch metropolis.
“We managed to stop the hostage-taker by hitting him with a car the moment he ran outside”, a tweet mentioned later.
“We now know that the suspect had no explosives on his body and medical staff are now taking care of him.”
The final hostage held within the store was secure, they added.
“Since the start of the hostage taking… several people have managed to leave the store,” they mentioned earlier.
Leidseplein is in style with vacationers and identified for its full of life bars and cafes. The space was rapidly closed and the eating places, bars and theatres had been shut after the hostage taking.
The police had been monitoring photos circulating on social media which might ultimately be utilized in an investigation, they added.
Dutch public tv NOS mentioned the hostage taker was injured and was pushed away in an ambulance.
Tim Wagemakers, an unbiased journalist who was in a close-by constructing, tweeted there have been closely armed police at the location, including that locals had been requested to stay inside and keep away from their home windows.
The constructing he was in was evacuated throughout the hostage-taking.
Images on social media confirmed an assailant holding a person at gunpoint, native media reported. Several witnesses heard gunshots contained in the Apple Store, based on the AT5 outlet. – AFP
