Utrecht shooting: Police ‘seriously’ considering terrorism as motive after suspicious note found in getaway car

Investigation yields no evidence that suspect may have known victims, as was claimed in Dutch and Turkish media, authorities say

Dutch prosecutors are “seriously” considering terrorism as the motive behind the deadly shooting of passengers on a tram in Utrecht that left three dead.

Seven others were injured – three badly – on Monday after shots were fired at a tram stop on the outskirts of the city centre, triggering an international manhunt, a raising of the terror threat level and government crisis talks. A 37-year-old man of Turkish descent was arrested hours later.

Dutch authorities immediately raised the possibility of a terror link but subsequent reports in Turkish media suggested the suspect may have known the victim and the shooting was a domestic dispute.

But prosecutors said on Tuesday their investigations had so far not indicated that the main suspect, named as Gokmen Tanis, knew any of the victims.

They added that a note found in a vehicle he allegedly used to flee the scene gave them further reasons to consider terrorism as a motive.

It was not immediately clear what the note said but anti-Islam MP Geert Wilders told the Dutch parliament that it expressed support for the suspect’s “Muslim brothers”.

The parliament held a moment of silence to remember the victims of the attack.

“The investigation has so far revealed no relationship between the main suspect and the victims,” a police statement said.

“So far, a terrorist motive is seriously being considered,” the statement continued, citing “the nature of the shooting and a letter found in the getaway car”.

The victims were identified as a 19-year-old woman from Vianen and two men, aged 28 and 49, from Utrecht.

Three people were severely injured – two women aged 20 and 21 and a 74-year-old man.

The development came after police arrested a third person on suspicion of involvement in the tram shooting.

Public prosecution office spokesman Ties Kortmann said Tanis was being held on suspicion of manslaughter with a possible terrorist motive, but authorities say they have not ruled out other possible motives.

Dutch media citing his neighbours in Utrecht speculated that the shooting may have been linked to a relationship.

Mahmut Tanis, an uncle of Tanis who lives in the Netherlands, told Turkey’s state-run Anadolu news agency that he doubted radical motives.

“Looking at my nephew’s condition, the possibility that what he did was a terror attack is low,” he said, adding that he had not seen him in years and that his actions could stem from “matters of the heart”.

Tanis had previously been arrested, prosecutors said.

Police carried out searches at locations in Utrecht and elsewhere in the Netherlands over night, leading to the arrests of the two other men, both from Utrecht and aged 23 and 27.

On Tuesday, members of the public and Utrecht’s mayor placed bunches of flowers near the busy traffic intersection where the gunfire erupted.

Referring to the mosque shootings in New Zealand, prime minister Mark Rutte said: "Because of what happened in Utrecht we feel an even stronger bond with the people of Christchurch.

"It was not a bad dream but the hard reality with which we woke up. This really hit our confidence and our sense of security."