A man with a firearm entered the BNNVARA building with the aim of killing Tim Hofman. He was immediately taken into custody by the police.
Just before the weekend it leaked Panorama reports that a very violent incident took place at the Mediapark on September 6, during which a 41-year-old man from Breda was arrested. BNNVARA did not want to answer questions from the magazine, but has now issued a press statement with text and explanation.
Armed man
What exactly happened? “On Wednesday, September 6, a man walked into the building around 9 p.m. He informed the security guard present that he was there to kill Tim Hofman. The security guard in question acted in a very appropriate manner and immediately called the police.”
And then? “The man was led out, taken into police custody and remains in custody. The man appeared to be carrying a bag containing a firearm and a knife. We are not aware of any information about explosives that the man may be carrying, as was suggested in the media last Friday.”
Arrested
After the incident, it turned out that the man had already entered the building earlier that day to try to arrange a meeting with Tim through reception. That did not work. “In the evening, as mentioned, he returned and was ultimately taken into custody by the police,” said a spokesperson for the broadcaster.
BNNVARA director Lonneke van der Zee: “Our first concern is for Tim, the security guard and reception employee in question and the BOOS editorial team. Naturally, news of these events had a major impact. They have received the help they need to process this.”
Disgusting
The suspect is a man from Breda. It is not an ex-employee or anyone who appears to be or has been connected in any way to BNNVARA or any of the other broadcasters. The man has not been in a BOOS broadcast or been the subject of discussion there.
It is unclear what this is about. Lonneke: “It is disgusting that we have had to deal with such a serious incident. That makes a big impression on all of us.”
Possible motives
The suspect is awaiting a trial that is expected to start at the end of December, according to BNNVARA. “We cannot provide any information about the possible motives of the suspect at this time, because this is part of the investigation and we as a company have not yet had access to the file or reports of the interrogation.”
Just before sending the press statement, the BNNVARA management informed its own staff and those of NTR, VPRO and Human this morning about the incident in their shared building at Wim T. Schippersplein.