Utrecht to plant red and white flowers at scene of mass shooting

The municipality of Utrecht will plant perennials with red and white flowers, the colors of the Utrecht flag, at the memorial site for a mass shooting on 24 Oktoberplein. The thousands of flowers, letters and stuffed animals currently at the site will be removed on Tuesday, NU.nl reports.

Municipal employees will sort through the cards, drawings, letters and stuffed animals. These will go into storage. The municipality, in consultation with the victims' relatives, will decide what to do with these items at a later date. The flowers will be composted. And plants with red and white flowers will be planted on the square.

The municipality also said it is currently looking through the large number of proposals it received about a monument for the victims.

On March 18th a man opened fire on a tram on 24 Oktoberplein. A total of four people were killed, three died on the day of the shooting, and the other a week later. Suspected gunman Gokmen T. was arrested hours after the incident. He confessed to the shooting and is facing charges of murder or manslaughter with terrorist intent, attempts thereto, and threats with terrorist intent.