Municipal workers pull gun, knife wielding man off woman on Heerhugowaard street

A woman was attacked and stabbed on Oberonlaan in Heerhugowaard on Monday morning. She was attacked by a man who was carrying a knife and a firearm in his hands, NH Nieuws reports. The woman was injured and a trauma helicopter was deployed to the scene.

A municipal employee of the public services department told the newspaper that his colleagues saved the woman. "During coffee I heard that there was a problem with a woman in the back of an alley. A few colleagues were mowing grass there for us. They already heard screaming and weird sounds, so they did not trust it. Then they heard a few citizens shout: 'Get out of here, it's dangerous!'" he said. 

"Then they found a woman being stabbed by a man. They went for it: one held him and then they took his weapons away from him. He had a knife and a firearm in his hands." The police arrived and took over. 

"My colleagues saved that woman", the municipal employee said. "I think it's great of those guys. They are shocked of course. At the moment they are at the police station to give witness statements."

 The police confirm that there was a "violent incident" on the street and that bystanders managed to overpower the 77-year-old suspect and handed him over to the police. The man is in custody for further investigation.