‘HE HAS THE IQ OF A SHRIMP’

Dutch tram attack suspect had 'a rap sheet from here to Tokyo' and was known to be 'completely mad' say locals as police investigate terrorism motive

By Sara Malm, Shekhar Bhatia and AFP

Daily Nail
March 19, 2019

Utrecht, The Netherlands -- The Dutch tram attack suspect has the 'IQ of a shrimp' as those who knew him say he had gone mad on heroin and had countless legal troubles, as police investigate a terror motive.

Turkish-born Gökmen Tanis, 37, had been out of jail for two weeks on a rape case when he allegedly opened fire on a tram in Utrecht on Monday morning, killing three people - including a teenager and a father-of-three - and injuring five others.

Tanis was described as having a 'rap sheet from here to Tokyo,' including weapons charges, and one of his neighbours said the suspect spiralled into madness on heroin and that Tanis 'has the IQ of a shrimp.'

But another described the alleged killer as 'nice,' as the authorities try to piece together his motives.

Dutch authorities are 'seriously' investigating a potential terrorist motive for Monday's deadly shooting on a tram in the city of Utrecht, after it was revealed that the main suspect has no known link to the victims.

Police and prosecutors said suspicions of terrorism had been prompted by a letter found in the suspect's getaway car, a stolen red Renault Clio found abandoned a few hundred yards from the scene.

The shooting saw the terrorism threat level in Utrecht raised to the highest possible, and sparked a manhunt during which police released photographs of Tanis captured on the tram's CCTV just minutes before the shooting began at 10.45am.

Tanis - who 'was known' to authorities - was detained during a raid on the Oudernoord district of Utrecht last night, and the threat level in the province has since been downgraded from level five to four.

A witness told MailOnline: 'The police told me to go inside my home for my own safety. There were many officers and they had drones flying above too.'

Tanis was hauled out of the flat at gunpoint with his face covered, after officers climbed over a barbed wire wall to surprise the alleged shooter from the back of the building, which contains 11 flats. Police also found a firearm after his arrest.

Dutch media reports today that he could finally be caught after logging on to his internet banking account via an unknown mobile phone number. Police traced the mobile phone, and were able to arrest Tanis.

Two other arrests were also made by police probing the attacks, and two unnamed men from Utrecht aged 23 and 27 remain in custody. Reports said the two other suspects were brothers but unrelated to Tanis.

Tanis' relatives in Turkey told the state-run Anadolu news agency yesterday that the 37-year-old had opened fire on a relative 'for family reasons' and later shot at others trying to intervene.

However, Utrecht Police and the Dutch Public Prosecution Service have today said that the investigation has so far not revealed any relationship between the main suspect and the victims.

'So far, a terrorist motive is being been seriously taken into account,' the Public Prosecution Service said in a statement.

'This is based on a letter found in the getaway car among other things and the nature of the facts. Other motives have not been excluded, these are also being investigated.'

This comes as the three victims of yesterday's shooting have been revealed as a 19-year-old woman from the nearby city of Vianen, a 28-year-old man from the same neighbourhood as Tanis and a 49-year-old married father-of-three.

Roos Verschuur, 19, worked as a waitress in a snack bar in the suburb of Vianen and was caught up in the attack travelling through the city on her day off.

Miss Verschuur's boyfriend Wilmar Ijskes has today spoken of his grief, and told MailOnline: 'She was beautiful and she was strong. She was my lovely girlfriend. This is a terrible tragedy.

'I can't tell you what I feel about the man who killed her. I am too angry about it

'Roos was a very happy girl. Why would anybody do this to her?'

Rinke Terpstra, 49, worked in IT for the Dutch rail network management company ProRail, and coached several youth football teams with the Utrecth club C.O.V. DESTO in his spare time.

In a statement released by C.O.V. DESTO, Chairman Frits Veldhuis paid tribute to Mr Terpstra, writing that he had been involved in the club for a long time 'where he himself played football, tennis and also trained both his sons and daughter with passion.'

Prime Minister of the Netherlands Mark Rutte said some people wounded in the tram attack 'are still in critical condition', with 'three people fighting for their lives'.

Dutch authorities today revealed that the three people seriously injured are a 20-year-old woman from Utrecht, a 74-year-old man from the nearby village of De Meern and a 21-year-old woman from Nieuwegein, north of Utrecht.

A stream of mourners laid flowers on Tuesday at the site of the attack near the 24 Oktoberplein square.

'One of the victims was my friend's girlfriend. So coming here today was the least I could do,' Marco van Rooijen, 43, told AFP.

'I am here to pay homage to the victims and to support their families,' said local resident Yvette Koetjeloozekoot, 29.

But there was also growing anger after it emerged that the suspect had only been freed from jail in a rape case two weeks ago.

Tanis was originally arrested in 2017, accused of sexually assaulting a 47-year-old woman, then released from pre-trial detention, before being taken back into custody when he breached his bail conditions, the central Netherlands district court said. He was freed again at the start of March.

In 2014, he was also convicted of 'illegal possession of weapons' and attempted theft but acquitted of attempted manslaughter. He was also convicted in recent months for shoplifting and burglary, but was appealing these rulings.

Broadcaster NOS meanwhile said some of his relatives had links to fundamentalist Islamic groups, but also that he was known for unstable behaviour after divorcing his wife two years ago.

Far-right politician Geert Wilders has demanded that Justice Minister Ferd Grapperhaus resign after the revelations about Tanis' criminal past, saying he was responsible for the suspect being able to roam the streets.

'You are politically responsible for this,' Wilders, the leader of the right-wing Party for Freedom, said in the Dutch parliament in The Hague. 'You have to resign, get out of here.'

Earlier today, the alleged victim of the 2017 sexual assault said she feared the suspect was going to be 'coming after her next' when his photograph was shared online.

'I was terrified, I thought: he is coming to see me,' the woman, named only as Angelique, 47, told Algemeen Dagblad, but added that she did not believe Tanis was a terrorist, saying 'his act has nothing to do with faith'.

'He's just crazy, a drug user, you name it. I have warned police so often [about him] before. He is not a terrorist, but a psychopath. If only they had listened to me.'

Speaking yesterday, Prime Minister Rutte said that 'a terror motive is not excluded' and that the attack was met throughout the country with 'a mix of disbelief and disgust'.

'If it had terror motives, that is being investigated. But it was very serious. The world shares our grief,' he said.

The Prime Minister has issued instructions for flags outside government buildings to fly at half-mast today, to show 'the whole of the Netherlands shares [the victims'] deep pain'.

Rutte and justice minister Ferd Grapperhaus were to visit Utrecht later on Tuesday to privately meet those caught up in the attack, officials said.

'A day later, I am still filled with horror,' Rutte told parliament today.

'There are still many questions about the motive, and the police and prosecutors still have to do a lot of work. But there is no doubt that the impact was huge.'

The attack raised security fears ahead of Wednesday's provincial elections in which Rutte's centrist coalition is set to lose seats in the upper house of parliament.

Following Tanis' arrest on Monday afternoon, the National Counter-Terrorism Agency 'reduced the threat level for the province of Utrecht to level four. This brings the threat level for the Netherlands as a whole back to four,' the head of the Dutch counter-terrorism agency Pieter-Jaap Aalbersberg said.

Utrecht was put into lockdown after the shooting which authorities initially said was an apparent terrorist attack, with schools told to shut their doors and paramilitary police increasing security at airports and mosques.

One witness told NOS News they had seen an injured person running out of the tram with blood on her hands and clothes who then fell to the ground.

'I brought her into my car and helped her. When the police arrived, she was unconscious,' the witness, who was not named, told the broadcaster.

Local resident Jimmy De Koster also witnessed the incident and told De Telegraaf: 'I was standing at the traffic lights on 24 Oktoberplein and I saw a woman lying down, I think she would have been between 20 and 35 years old.

'She shouted 'I didn't do anything'. At that time I heard 'bang, bang, bang', three times.'

'It's frightening that something like this can happen so close to home,' said Omar Rahhou, who said his parents lived on a street cordoned off by police. 'These things normally happen far away but this brings it very close, awful.'

The Utrecht police said a square at a tram station outside the city centre had been cordoned off as emergency services attend the scene. Officials added that trauma helicopters were sent to the incident at 24 Oktoberplein

Support for the Netherlands poured in from around the world, including the United States, the EU and Russia.

US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo said: 'America stands with you. We will continue to do all we can to help you in this terrible time of tragedy.'

Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan said his country's intelligence agency was 'looking into' the attack.

'Some say it is a family matter, some say it is a terror attack ... Our intelligence agency is looking into the matter', Erdogan told Ulke TV late Monday.

British Foreign Secretary Jeremy Hunt tweeted his concern in the wake of the incident, saying the UK 'stands with the people of the Netherlands'.

'Hugely concerning news of a gunman opening fire on a tram in Utrecht, no doubt with innocent people just getting on with their day,' Mr Hunt wrote.

'We are in contact with Dutch authorities, urgently seeking further information. The UK stands with the people of the Netherlands.'

The Netherlands has been largely spared the kind of attacks which have rocked its closest European neighbours in the past few years, but there has been a series of recent scares.

In August, a 19-year-old Afghan with a German residence permit stabbed and injured two American tourists at Amsterdam's busy Central Station before being shot and wounded.

In September, Dutch investigators said they had arrested seven people and foiled a 'major attack' on civilians at a major event in the Netherlands.

They said they had found a large quantity of bomb-making materials including fertiliser likely to be used in a car bomb. The men were arrested in the cities of Arnhem and Weert.

In June, two terror suspects were arrested while close to carrying out attacks including at an iconic bridge in Rotterdam and in France, prosecutors said.

The men aged 22 and 28, who were of Moroccan origin, made a film at the Erasmus bridge in which they sang a martyrdom song, they said.

EDITOR’S NOTE: Waiting for blame it on Trump.