Apple Store hostage-taker dies from injuries after being struck by police car

The 27-year-old man who directly held one customer hostage in an Apple Store on Tuesday died from injuries suffered during his capture, his mother’s attorney told Parool. Abdel Rahman Akkad kept the 44-year-old Bulgarian man trapped in the store for about five hours, when the hostage took off running out the front door of the Amsterdam location. Akkad gave chase, and was abruptly struck by a black, unmarked police vehicle that sped towards him.

Akkad did not recover from his injuries, attorney Jan-Kees van den Brink said. “He was no longer conscious, and has since passed away,” Van den Brink told the newspaper. He previously represented Akkad in other criminal cases, and was retained by the kidnapper’s mother after the Tuesday night incident.

His death was confirmed by the Public Prosecution Service, according to newswire ANP. "The most important thing now is that Abdel Rahman's mother is asking the press to leave the family alone," said Van Den Brink.

Born in Amsterdam, Akkad reportedly acted in a disturbed manner with frequency, and had many run-ins with emergency services workers in the capital, including for weapons possession, sources told Parool. Akkad was convicted last May for assaulting his ex-girlfriend, and was sentenced to 60 hours of community service, a month of probation, and a three-year restraining order preventing him from contacting his victim.

He was also accused of sending pornographic and demeaning messages to his ex-girlfriend over a five-month period in 2020. His Syrian-born father has lived for many years on the Spaarndammerstraat, one of two homes police searched in their investigation.

Akkad used a delivery truck from a supermarket chain to get to the Apple Store on Leidseplein at about 5:40 p.m. He brought two firearms into the building, and he was dressed in camouflage, claiming to be wearing a bomb vest, police said. He contacted the police himself to demand 200 million euros in cryptocurrency as a ransom.

When police arrived, he held a gun in his right hand, and had his left arm firmly around the Bulgarian man’s neck. Police said Akkad fired at least four shots at responding police officers.

As Akkad spent the next hours with his hostage, four people cowered in a closet on the ground floor. Dozens of others hid out in other locations in the building, something Akkad may not have known. Police said Akkad was likely monitoring live video feeds on social media channels showing what was happening at the Apple Store. Several dozen people managed to escape the building without Akkad knowing about it at around 8:30 p.m.

Two hours later, Akkad asked the police for something to drink. Officers used a robot to deliver water to the front door of the store. He told the Bulgarian man to get the water for him, a split-second moment the hostage used to escape from the building. Akkad ran after him, but as the hostage gained distance from his captor a tactical team police officer struck Akkad with his vehicle.

Medical personnel were not allowed to examine Akkad on the street until after a robot examined his body for explosives while snipers kept him in their sights. He was then transported to an area hospital, where he later died.