Eindhoven university stabbing suspect cornered teacher in bathroom; Arrested at burglary
Police in Eindhoven announced the arrest of a man suspected of stabbing a university lecturer earlier on Thursday. The 41-year-old was accused of first threatening the woman with a knife in the bathroom at Fontys Applied Sciences University on Rachelsmolen at about 7:50 a.m. In a separate incident, a student was also alleged to have stabbed another at a secondary school in Venlo.
The suspect in the Eindhoven incident was caught during an unrelated burglary less than three kilometers from the stabbing. Although witnesses said earlier they thought the offender was a student, the person taken into custody does not study there, nor does he work at Fontys. He does not have a fixed place of residence, police added.
The woman suffered minor injuries to her hand during the attack. The lecturer was treated for her wounds. She will press charges in the case, and has cooperated in the investigation thus far.
The exact circumstances were still under investigation, as the suspect had not yet been fully interrogated. After the stabbing, the assailant fled the scene before police arrived.
"The educational institution was temporarily evacuated in the search for the suspect. The entire complex was searched, but the suspect was not found," police said in a statement.
About two hours later, police were called to the scene of a burglary at a commercial property on Nuenenseweg, which is also in Eindhoven. There, police claimed they caught the 41-year-old "red-handed" during the property crime.
Police said he "also matched the specific description of the suspect from the threat at the applied sciences university. We suspect that the man was involved in that threat, but further investigation will have to determine this."
In a separate case, police were investigating a stabbing at a school in Venlo that also happened Thursday morning. A suspect was arrested in that case.
The victim was taken to the hospital for treatment, the police report on X. Both people involved are students at the school.
It had been reported earlier that the stabbing occurred by the sports hall near the school, outside the school grounds. They are investigating what led to the stabbing.