Rotterdam:
suspicion on a medical student Three people shot dead Dutch police and prosecutors said he had a history of psychotic behavior in Rotterdam and a conviction for animal abuse and that he had possibly deliberately targeted his victims.
Prosecutors said they were still investigating the suspect’s motive in Thursday’s shooting, but confirmed on Friday that they had previously informed the Erasmus University Medical Center (EMC) about his problematic behavior.
Stefan Schleifer, president of the EMC, said in a statement that the warning was taken seriously and the suspect was denied a doctor’s license until he was psychologically evaluated and declared fit to practice medicine. Went.
Law enforcement sources confirmed that the 32-year-old suspect is named Fouad El, his surname cannot be published under Dutch privacy laws. The public prosecutor’s office said he is scheduled to appear before a judge on October 3.
The suspect is being held on suspicion of shooting a 39-year-old woman and her 14-year-old daughter who lived near their home, and then a 43-year-old doctor who taught at EMC, where the suspect was a student. All three died.
Prosecutors said the suspect has an attorney but the attorney has not been publicly identified and did not want to contact the press. It was unclear how the suspect could plead.
Shootings are rare in the Netherlands and the incident shocked residents and drew condolences from locals to the country’s king and queen.
Well-wishers brought flowers at both the places. Dutch media reported that the 14-year-old victim had a twin sister who survived safely.
The wife and child of the doctor who died are alive.
“It’s horrible. I couldn’t stop crying yesterday,” said neighbor Russ Bonnier. “That this kind of extreme (violence) can happen.”
The prosecutor’s spokesperson confirmed the authenticity of the prosecutors’ letter to EMC, broadcast on Dutch media. It described the suspect’s “psychotic behavior” and alcohol problems, as well as complaints from neighbors about his behavior with animals. The date of the letter was not visible.
“I believe that the above information will contribute to the decision as to whether the individual concerned should be eligible for the General Doctor’s Diploma,” the letter said.
Images of students fleeing and patients being evacuated from the Erasmus Medical Center have been playing on Dutch television news since the incident on Thursday afternoon.
The hospital was functioning normally on Friday but medical classes were cancelled.
The suspect also allegedly set fire to the woman’s house and the EMC before he was arrested soon after fleeing from a building in the hospital complex.
Rotterdam’s chief prosecutor Hugo Hillenaar said Thursday that the suspect had a history of fleeing from police.
He was convicted in 2021 of abusing his pet rabbit, according to a report by the AD newspaper, which covered the case at the time. Other alleged abuse incidents involving his dogs, fish and birds did not result in convictions.
