Utrecht tram shooter Gökmen T. accused of throwing boiling oil at prison staff
The 42-year-old man convicted of fatally shooting four people on a tram in Utrecht has again been accused of violent behavior in prison. Gökmen T. was captured, and has remained in custody, ever since the tram shooting at 24 Oktoberplein on March 18, 2019. The Utrecht man was convicted and sentenced to life in prison almost exactly one year after the shooting, which also left three other people with serious injuries.
More recently, T., hurled boiling oil and boiling water at prison staff, claimed the DJI, the government agency that operates penitentiaries in the Netherlands. This took place on August 2 at De Schie, a facility in Rotterdam that holds up to 286 prisoners, including many convicted of terrorist crimes or who need extra care.
That same day, T. also used a potato peeler and a piece of glass to make threats. He also caused significant damage to a communal recreation area.
T. is due in court on November 28 on allegations dating back to 2021. He was accused of stabbing a prison worker with a piece of a refrigerator that he fashioned into a weapon. The guard was hospitalized for treatment of minor injuries to his face and neck. The motive was unclear at the time, but prison officials said the attack was "without cause," according to AD.
Two more incidents took place in the months between that stabbing and the more recent violence. He also allegedly destroyed a television, a microwave, an air fryer, and a Sony PlayStation gaming system, according to ANP. De Schie needed the help of a police mediator to get T. back under control in the August 2023 incident. He was then placed in solitary confinement, AD reported.
T.'s attorney told AD that the trouble started when T. was transferred from the ultrasecure prison in Vught to the terrorist prisoner wing at De Schie. The lawyer, Burç Temeltasch, said that T. was lashing out at the more restrictive and "intrusive" nature of the terrorist wing, including being handcuffed at all times when outside of one's prison cell.
