Leidseplein in Amsterdam is filled with day trippers and tourists sitting under heaters on the terraces, employees rushing home. It is half past six in the evening, almost two years ago. At that moment on February 22, 2022, the hostage situation in the Apple Store begins that makes world news.
Leidseplein in Amsterdam is filled with day trippers and tourists sitting under heaters on the terraces, employees rushing home. It is half past five in the evening, almost two years ago. At that moment on February 22, 2022, the hostage situation in the Apple Store begins that makes world news.
In a moving documentary by Roos Gerritsen, images from the Apple Store are shown for the first time, recordings that the hostage taker himself made with his bodycam. He did not survive his action. The drama is currently also being made into a feature film for Netflix by director Bobby Boermans.
‘It all comes back to life’
It’s starting to get dark. Kevin is behind the bar in café Palladium, directly opposite the Apple Store. Exactly where it stood two years ago. Sometimes he still thinks back to that particular evening when he worked his first shift as manager.
“It has all come back to me since I saw the trailer for that new documentary,” he tells this newspaper. “I had only just started as a manager and my first shift in that position started at five o’clock.”
“Before that we saw a lot of vans and police entering the square,” he continues. “Not unusual because there is often something going on. At one point, bystanders came inside to take shelter and we saw that there were police officers on their knees in front of the door in the park.”
“An officer came to say that something was going on in the Apple Store and that we had to keep people away from the windows. No one was allowed in or out anymore. We took shelter in the back of the store. Quite difficult because those bystanders wanted to take photos and videos in front of the window.”
‘The blow went through the marrow and bone’
Ultimately, officers led the employees and customers out through the side exit to the Club upstairs. “From there we could go to their emergency exit at the back of the building. Staff were shocked and someone panicked, but the police calmed them down. Fortunately, everyone who works here is on solid ground; We are used to something.”
Still, the event made a big impression. “The neighbors across the street have large windows. I got a really good look at the hostage taker, including that he had a gun. When I later saw the collision between the police and the hostage taker on television, the blow went through my marrow.”
Police deploy weapons of war
Mascha de Jong-Kramer, an Amsterdam reporter on behalf of this newspaper two years ago, jumped on her bike when she understood that something was going on on Leidseplein. “We had no idea yet what was going on, but when a BearCat (armored personnel carrier, ed.) passed by, we knew something was wrong. That is real war equipment!”
Documentary maker and employee of city channel AT5 Roos Gerritsen was running in the Vondelpark, around the corner from Leidseplein. “I immediately ran.” She was one of the first on site.
Six months after the tragedy, Gerritsen went to the police to ask if there was more footage of the hostage situation. That resulted in the documentary The hostage situation at the Apple Store (can be seen from Thursday, February 22 via Videoland and on AT5).
“When I first saw those images, I was extremely impressed. I immediately realized that people should see it because you can follow the hostage situation from all angles. It was special that we received those images from the police.”
Customers hiding in a closet
What the hostage taker never knew is that Apple Store employee Alex was sitting right next to him in the closet with three customers, including a mother and teenage daughter. “We didn’t realize what was happening around us,” says Alex, who remained calm. “We had no idea what was happening outside.”
The whispered conversations that Alex had on his telephone with the police and later with the medical service after the woman in the closet became unwell are also included in the documentary and show rising panic. The fear of being discovered, and the fear that the hostage taker would shoot at random, through the paper-thin cupboard walls.
Apple Store employee Alex is still deeply affected by the event. At the presentation of the documentary, he says: “These kinds of things are very difficult for me. I scan everything, I check everything. I’m constantly on, all day long. I’m always observing and looking. If something falls, I hear it immediately. I almost know how many people are in this room.”
A real behind-the-scenes story
According to media psychologist Mischa Coster, the documentary is “a direct look into the kitchen of a criminal.” “Something you would normally never see, it is really a behind-the-scenes story. Moreover, a subject that is not often explained in documentaries. If you can put yourself in someone’s shoes, this will certainly appeal to you.”
The conversations between hostage taker Abdel A. and the police negotiator can be followed minute by minute. As he grabs his hostage, a Bulgarian tourist, he shouts at the police: “His death is on your conscience.”
In the conversations with the negotiator, a picture emerges of his sad life in which care providers and creditors play a major role.
The hostage situation at the Apple Store can be seen from Thursday, February 22 on AT5 at 8 p.m. (Ziggo channel 725; KPN channel 510) and can be streamed via Videoland.