UTRECHT, Netherlands — Investigators probing the deadly tram shooting in the Dutch city of Utrecht sharpened their focus Tuesday on a possible extremist motive, as judicial authorities revealed that the main suspect was released from jail this month and faces a rape trial in July.
The nature of the Monday’s attack and a note found in a suspected getaway car suggest a possible terror motive, prosecutors said in a statement, but they add that other possible reasons also are being investigated.
“Based on the letter, we think he had a terroristic motive,” police spokesman Joost Lanshage told The Associated Press. He declined to elaborate.
Speaking in parliament, anti-Islam lawmaker Geert Wilders said the note expressed support for the suspect’s “Muslim brothers.”
Prosecutors also said that investigations so far have not established any relationship at all between the main suspect, Gokmen Tanis, and the shooting victims.
Three people died: a 19-year-old woman from the neighboring town of Vianen, and two men aged 28 and 49 from Utrecht.
Three others were seriously wounded and four more suffered minor injuries, according to prosecutors.
Throughout the day, well-wishers placed flowers at the foot of a tree next to the intersection where the shooting happened. At the end of the afternoon, Prime Minister Mark Rutte and Justice Minister Ferd Grapperhaus also laid bouquets and briefly talked to police officers at the scene.
Tanis, a 37-year-old man of Turkish descent, was being held on suspicion of “manslaughter with terrorist intent.”
He was arrested Monday after an hours-long manhunt that nearly paralyzed the Netherlands’ fourth-largest city and sent shockwaves through the nation. Police recovered a weapon when they arrested him.
In an unusual step, judicial authorities released details of Tanis’ criminal past, and said he was released from jail on March 1 and faces trial in July on a rape charge. A court had approved his release after he pledged to cooperate with authorities.
In the past, he was acquitted of manslaughter but convicted of illegal possession of a weapon and theft.
Wilders called on Justice Minister Ferd Grapperhaus to resign, saying that Tanis shouldn’t have been released from jail.
“You are politically responsible for this,” Wilders said during a parliamentary debate. “You have to resign, get out of here.”
Police spokesman Martin de Wit said that three people — the alleged shooter and two others whose involvement was being investigated — were in custody following Monday’s attack.
