Europe

Armed man takes at least one hostage at Amsterdam Apple store

by Maureen Breslin - 02/22/22 2:54 PM ET

Police took down an armed man who held at least one person hostage Tuesday in an Apple store in Amsterdam.

Citizens in the area appear to have been evacuated safely from the area, Amsterdam police tweeted on Tuesday evening.

The suspect, who appears to have been physically struck by police as he ran out of the store, is being treated at a local hospital, police added.

“We managed to stop the hostage-taker by hitting him as he ran out. Violent images of that collision can be seen. We now know that the suspect had no explosives on his body and medical personnel are now taking care of him,” police tweeted. “The suspect has since been taken to hospital. For the time being, we are still conducting extensive research in the Apple Store on Leidseplein.”

Amsterdam police first tweeted early Tuesday afternoon about a hostage situation at the Apple store, located in the central square area Leidseplein in the Dutch capital city.

The square was cleared by police and residents were told to stay inside at all times.

By evening, Amsterdam police said the suspect was overpowered and was being examined for explosives with a robot, while they had slowly cleared the building and evacuated people to safety.

Around 5 p.m., Amsterdam police said the emergency was over but police were still conducting operations in the area to secure it.

“Because of the kidnapping in the Apple Store, which has now ended, a helicopter has been hovering over Leidseplein for hours,” police wrote on Twitter.”Unfortunately, this causes inconvenience to residents. We hope for understanding and as soon as the helicopter is no longer needed, peace will return to the air.”

Amsterdam saw an increase in targeted, armed robberies at mobile phone stores during 2021, which caused many to cut down on their phone stock. However, none of these robberies took place in the central part of Amsterdam, Reuters noted.

Gun violence is not unusual in the capital city; however, hostage situations are very rare. Reuters reported that the last hostage situation took place in 2015.