Child daycare arson suspect caught by Amsterdam police; Kids ushered to safety

Police in Amsterdam Noord fired a gunshot while trying to apprehend a man suspected of intentionally setting a fire in the cellar of a daycare facility while children were in attendance. Officers responded to reports of the fire at the Johanna Margaretha child care center on Wingerdweg at about 2 p.m. on Friday and found the alleged offender in the basement.

The children were already whisked away from the building by the daycare’s staff before first responders arrived on the scene. They were kept safe at a nearby school.

A police spokesperson said the suspect acted extremely aggressively when officers reached the basement, prompting one officer to fire the gunshot, the AD reported. Nobody was struck by the bullet, and the man was taken into custody. Photographs taken at the scene at circulated on social media showed a person being carried away by three police officers and a firefighter.

The suspect is not an employee of the daycare center, police added.

Firefighters managed to quickly extinguish the small fire. It is not clear what damage the man caused at the building.