Police arrest suspect over Oisterwijk primary school threats and evacuation

Police in Oisterwijk caught a suspect in their investigation regarding reports that a disturbed man, possibly armed, walked into a primary school and began making threats on Tuesday morning. The school was evacuated at about 8 a.m. when dozens of students were already in the building. The children and teaching staff were all brought to safety.

A suspect who was observed during the investigation was taken into custody, police said at about 12:30 p.m. Police had described the individual sought in the case as being about 30 years of age, standing about 1.80 meters in height, with a slim build and a slight tan complexion. He had a beard, and curly hair in a fade haircut with the sides of his head and neck gradually more clean-shaven. He was wearing a red shirt and gray sweatpants.

The primary school involved, De Coppele, is located at Willem de Zwijgerlaan in Oisterwijk, which is just east of Tilburg. Once the man entered the building, he allegedly began using threatening language. It was not immediately clear if the individual was the same person accused of causing a disturbance in another part of town that morning.

“At the moment, it is still too early to say something about a possible motive," police said soon after the incident. They sent a tactical team to the scene, and circled the area with a helicopter as they searched for the suspect. Investigators feared the man was armed, and cautioned the public not to approach him.

"No suspicious items were found in the school in question. We are still present to conduct further research," police said in the early afternoon.

Moments before his arrest, police evacuated the Tilburg LocHal near the train station, and put the MindLabs building on lockdown. The building houses reporters, editors, and layout teams from several newspapers, including BN DeStem, Eindhovens Dagblad, and Brabants Dagblad, as well as journalism students from the Fontys University of Applied Sciences.

"Oisterwijk was startled this morning by a serious incident," said Mayor Hans Janssen in a statement after he visited the location where students and teachers were gathered during the evacuation. "This event has been very impactful, also on the children's parents. We are doing everything we can to offer them the best possible support and guidance."