- By Anna Holligan in Rotterdam & Michael Ertl in London
- BBC News
Mourners gathered on the constructing the place a girl and her daughter had been killed in central Rotterdam
Dutch prosecutors knew in regards to the gunman who killed three individuals in Rotterdam and had warned the hospital the place he shot one of the victims, an e-mail from them has revealed.
Fouad L, 32, had proven “psychotic behaviour”, the hospital was advised.
He was arrested on Thursday after he allegedly shot a girl and her daughter at their house and a lecturer on the Erasmus Medical Center.
Police stated he had beforehand been convicted of animal cruelty.
The attacker set fireplace to the constructing in central Rotterdam the place he shot and killed the 39-year-old girl, police stated. Emergency companies rushed the daughter, 14, to a hospital the place she later died from her accidents.
A person who lives in the identical condo block advised the BBC the household lived subsequent door to Fouad L and had repeatedly reported him to the police.
“Once he threw a dead rabbit into their garden,” 20-year-old Roy stated.
The police would come, Roy added, however “he always had the curtains closed and never opened the door”.
“They had so many chances to kick him out. This is social housing, he should have been evicted a long time ago.”
Police haven’t given any particulars a couple of doable motive to this point.
Neighbours hung photos of the lady who was shot outdoors her house
Bouquets of roses and sunflowers have been connected to the black display positioned by police across the crime scene.
Roy stated the household was pleasant with their different neighbours and sometimes outdoors speaking with them.
“Now a girl I knew since she was tiny is dead. Her twin sister, older sister and little brother have lost their sibling and mother,” he stated.
Francisca, one other neighbour, stated her granddaughter had been buddies with the sufferer’s twin women. “It’s just so sad. I still can’t believe it,” she advised the BBC.
Police officers had been going door to door the day after the assault, trying to find proof.
The home windows of the household’s flats are solely blown out and black burn marks across the brickwork recommend the blaze ignited by the gunman had been substantial.
Watch: Smoke billows out of constructing after Rotterdam capturing
The e-mail – despatched by the Dutch public prosecution service to the instructing hospital the place Fouad L studied – described his earlier “worrying behaviour”, together with him discovered “half-naked in the garden on a pile of leaves”.
In the message, prosecutors urged his behaviour may have an effect on whether or not the hospital would grant him a medical diploma.
The suspected gunman posted the e-mail in an internet discussion board himself and complained about lecturers “sabotaging” him.
He described himself as an alcoholic and stated he had been fired as a result of he was unable to complete his medical diploma.
Prosecutors have confirmed the authenticity of the e-mail, Dutch public broadcaster NOS stories.
During a search of his cellphone on the time of the animal cruelty investigation, prosecutors additionally discovered photos of individuals being stabbed in addition to right-wing extremist photos.
After the primary capturing, police say he went to the Erasmus Medical Center and killed a 43-year-old male lecturer.
He was arrested outdoors the Erasmus Medical Center round 15:30 native time (13:30 GMT) in an enormous operation that included an elite police unit storming the hospital and helicopters hovering over the constructing.
Elite police forces arrested Fouad L outdoors the Erasmus Medical Center
Fouad L additionally began a hearth on the hospital, inflicting vital injury. The hospital says it has cancelled all lectures within the constructing, however college students have been invited to mourn there in the present day.
On Friday morning, employees gathered in a comfy café outdoors the instructing hospital advised the BBC they had been annoyed about Rotterdam being characterised as a spot within the grip of violence linked to gangs and drug-trafficking.
Dutch Prime Minister Mark Rutte wrote in a publish on social media: “My thoughts go out to the victims of the violence, their loved ones and to all the people who have been in great fear.”
Rotterdam mayor Ahmed Aboutaleb stated the “horrible incident” was a “pitch-black day” for town.
Fouad L is because of seem in courtroom in a while Friday for a preliminary listening to.
