An arrest team arrested a man this evening who had been in a supermarket at the Gulden Winckelplantsoen in Bos en Lommer for more than an hour and a half. He was said to have had a firearm with him.
The suspect entered the store around 7:30 p.m. Shortly afterwards, customers and staff were able to leave the supermarket safely, a police spokesperson said.
Megaphone
Photos from bystanders showed several members of the arrest team getting ready at their cars. There were also plainclothes officers, probably negotiators, ready. One of them carried a megaphone.
There was also a dog handler from the arrest team and two police dog handlers standing around the supermarket.
The arrest team went in around 9 p.m. Fifteen minutes later, local residents saw a suspect being brought outside. In the photo below, the suspect is said to be in a police bus:
The police spokesperson says no one was injured and no shots were fired. There was also no hostage situation. The suspect was found in the warehouse and arrested. It is unclear why he was there.
The action raised many questions among bystanders and local residents. “I just walked out of Albert Heijn, and suddenly the entire street is cordoned off with red ribbons,” a bystander said earlier in the evening. “About six cars, just like an ambulance. Also about three cars with plainclothes officers, undercover so to speak. Who were allowed to pass muster.”
A local resident sent around 8.20 pm: “Do you know what is going on at the Gulden Winckelplantsoen? Everything is cordoned off, a lot of police. You are no longer allowed to enter the supermarkets (AH and Vomar)… They say: it is dangerous down here.”
The police tapes were removed around 9:30 p.m.