Three seriously hurt in Den Haag stabbing; suspect shot, arrested
A 31-year-old man from The Hague stabbed and seriously hurt three people near train station Hollands Spoor in the city on Saturday afternoon. The police shot the suspect in the leg before being able to arrest him. All three victims and the suspect were still in hospital on Sunday afternoon, the police said.
The stabbings happened around 3:00 p.m. on Saturday on Johanna Westerdijkplein. Responding officers saw the man with a knife on te street and approached him with their guns drawn. He was eventually shot in the leg, to make sure he posed no further danger to bystanders. A SWAT team arrested him while emergency services helped his victims.
The victims are a 21-year-old man from Zoetermeerder and two men from The Hague, age 41 and 35 years old. They were seriously hurt, but stable, the police said on Saturday night. The suspect is also still in hospital. The police are questioning him "about his motive and the background to the incident". Investigators are also looking into the suspect's background and searched his home. The police did not say whether anything out of the ordinary was found.
NOS and the Telegraaf both report that the suspect comes from Syria. On Sunday the police, Public Prosecutor and the municipality of The Hague told NU.nl that this information did not come from them. The Telegraaf also reported that the man also lost it in February, and threw his belongings into the street in the center of The Hague. The suspect is known to the police and aid organizations "due to disturbed behavior", according to the police. Exactly what this entails, the police did not say.
The police and Public Prosecutor would like to release more information about this case, but say that this is "not yet possible in the interest of the investigation", according to NU.nl. A spokesperson for Hague mayor Pauline Krikke also called for patience. "Let we not speculate. The detectives now have to do some good investigation first", he said to the newspaper.
The PVV in The Hague wants a debate with Krikke about this case.
