Three hostages released from Ede café, but police say situation is ongoing
The individuals keeping a group of people hostage at at cafe in the center of Ede released three people just before 11:30 a.m. on Saturday, police confirmed. "The situation is not over yet," police said nearly six hours into the incident at Café Petticoat. “At this time there is no indication of a terrorist motive,” police said.
The municipality confirmed that one person was still being held hostage inside the bar. The three young hostages, two women and one man, walked out of the bar with their hands above their heads. They walked away from the area unassisted while wearing black hoodies with the Petticoat logo on the back.
They were visibly shaken by the time they reached a staging area; the man and one woman were in tears. It was not immediately clear if they were physically injured, but witnesses said they looked to be unharmed. Police officers would not confirm the total number of people who were held against their will during the ordeal, the possibility anyone was wounded, and the number of hostage-takers, though they responded under the assumption that there was only one offender.
Some of those near the bar on Nieuwe Stationsstraat said that a masked man took the bar’s staff hostage, and that he claimed to be carrying a bag full of explosives, reported Omroep Gelderland. The police called in the specialist DSI tactical response team, and the EOD, a unit specialized in handling explosives.
A BearCat armored off-road vehicle was also at the location, as was a driverless vehicle shaped like a small, remote controlled tank was also present at the scene. The incident was first called in to emergency services dispatchers just after 6 a.m., but the situation may have started even earlier.
Records show a request at 5:42 a.m. to establish communication between the on call medical coordinator and ambulance and paramedic dispatchers about an unstated incident in the Gelderland municipality. By 6:30 a.m., the situation was escalated to a Grip 1 regional emergency, a response protocol that calls for all emergency services workers to operate under a single incident commander.
Emergency services workers evacuated 150 residences in the city center because of the incident. All retail stores and businesses in the city center were ordered to remain closed. Although the center was not closed off to the public, police asked people not to come to the area. “Stay inside and don’t come and watch,” a spokesperson said.
Café Petticoat hosted an event organized by Huiskamer Sessie that was scheduled to begin at 11 p.m. on Friday, with a closing time of 4 a.m. the following day. The organization specializes in scheduling DJs for smaller-scale venues. The maximum capacity for the party was estimated at about 400 people with a minimum age of 16 years old.
The incident and massive response also caused a disruption to public transport services in the area, particularly the NS train lines operating via Ede. The city also set up a point of contact for retailers and other entrepreneurs in the center of Ede at the Raadhuis on Bergstraat.
