The small Dutch city of Utrecht, about 30 miles south of Amsterdam, was the scene of a terrorist attack this morning. Three people were killed and at least nine injured when a shooter opened fire inside a public tram (= steetcar/trolley, for our North American readers). A spokesthingy for the police told the meeja, "Several shots were fired in a tram and several people were injured. Helicopters are at the scene and no arrests have been made." He said nothing about the severity of the injuries or the status of the shooter.
Another spokesthingy said the suspect could have left the scene by car, and did not rule out the possibility that more than one person was involved. The shooter is still at large and there are reports of other shootings. So far there are no reports of anyone yelling "Allahu akbar!", but police say they are "considering" terrorism as a motive, and officials raised the region's threat level to "5" -- the highest.
Security was reportedly stepped up at mosques in the province as well, as the shooting comes only four days after mass shootings at two mosques in Christchurch, New Zealand. That shooting was deemed a terrorist attack and the suspected shooter -- a white Australian -- allegedly posted a manifesto espousing anti-Muslim and anti-immigrant views. See "Walt explains motive for the New Zealand attacks on Muslims", WWW 15/3/19.
I think it's highly unlikely that the shooter in today's terrorist attack -- it's not too soon to use that phrase -- will turn out to be a white Australian, or a white anything-else. It's more likely, IMHO, that he will be a follower of the Prophet, a Muslim refugee or immigrant (of which the Netherlands has more than enough) intent on avenging the 50 Muslim refugees and asylum-seekers killed in NZ. I'll take bets on this one. Lifetime pct .991.
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