Gökmen T.

The fourth and last day of the trail against Gokmen T., suspected of killing four people in a mass shooting on a tram in Utrecht last year, had a tumultuous start. For the third time, T. was removed from the courtroom, this time for spitting at the judges and insulting them and their mothers, according to AD's live blog on the trial.

Gokmen T., the 38-year-old man on trial for killing four people in a mass shooting on an Utrecht tram on 18 March 2019, was again removed from court on Tuesday. This time he made a snide comment to one of the victims who survived the attack. "I no longer want the suspect in the room," the court president said, NOS reports. "I don't want order to be disturbed in this way."

Suspect Gökmen T. wrote references to Islam, Sharia and Allah on the firearm used to commit a mass shooting in Utrecht in March last year, "reliable sources" told RTL Nieuws. Soon after the shooting on 24 Oktoberplein on March 18th, the Public Prosecution Service (OM) revealed that text was written on the weapon, but never said what it stated.

Gokmen T., the suspected gunman in a mass shooting on a tram in Utrecht in March, did not appear in court for a proforma hearing in his case on Monday, despite a court order that he attend. A lot of violence would have been needed to get him to the courtroom, the court said. "It is not up to the suspect to dictate whether he appears or not, but under these circumstances the court refrains from forcing him to be present," the court president said, according to broadcaster NOS. 

A report by the National Coordinator for Security and Counterterrorism (NCTV) has revised the country's threat level assessment down to level 3 from level 4. The threat of a terrorist attack in the Netherlands is assessed on a five-point scale, with threat level 5 being the most severe and imminent.

Rene Verschuur, who lost his 19-year-old daughter Roos in a mass shooting on a tram on 24 Oktoberplein in Utrecht in March, is furious that suspect Gokmen T. is refusing to attend the next pro-forma hearing in the case against him, scheduled for Monday. In an open letter published by newspaper AD, Verschuur repeatedly called T. a coward for refusing to appear in court and account for his cowardly deeds.

Gokmen T., the man suspected of killing four people and hurting multiple others in a mass shooting in Utrecht in March, must attend the next pro-forma hearing in the case against him, the court in Midden-Nederland ordered.

T. previously stated in writing that he did not want to be present, but the court "considers it important to be able to speak to the suspect during this hearing about the progress of his criminal case", the court said, NU.nl reports.

The next hearing in this case is scheduled for Monday, July 1st. 

Gokmen T., the suspected gunman in a mass shooting in Utrecht on March 18th, assaulted a prison employee a few weeks before the attack on 24 Oktoberplein, Minister Ferdinand Grapperhaus of Justice and Security said in a letter to the Tweede Kamer, the Volkskrant reports.

The son of a 74-year-old man from De Meern, who passed away on Thursday afternoon as a result of injuries sustained in a mass shooting in Utrecht, called the pain his father suffered over the past days "indescribable".

So far the police received 850 tips regarding a mass shooting in Utrecht last week Monday, a police spokesperson said on Opsporing Verzocht on Tuesday. Due to the high number of tips, the police have not yet been able to make personal contact with every caller, but they will, the spokesperson said.

The 37-year-old man suspected of opening fire on a tram in Utrecht on Monday, killing three people, confessed to the attack, the Public Prosecutor's office (OM) said on Friday. Meanwhile the release was ordered in the case of the 40-year-old resident of the home where Gokmen T. was arrested. 

T. was remanded into custody for two weeks in a hearing earlier that day. "He also stated that he acted alone. In light of the investigation, no comment can be given regarding his statement," the OM said.