Suddenly Rotterdam experiences a ‘jet black afternoon’ with three deaths and a hospital full of panic

Miranda Schmidt was at the ophthalmologist’s office naming the row with the largest letters when the arrest team burst in. There was no time left for the slightly smaller letters. She had to leave the ophthalmology department of Erasmus MC in Rotterdam immediately. “Everyone out,” shouted the men with helmets, bulletproof vests and machine guns. “At least, I think they were machine guns,” says Miranda Schmidt. “It looked very serious.”

It was also serious.

Three people were killed in Rotterdam on Thursday afternoon after two shootings. An armed man entered an outbuilding of the Erasmus MC on the wide Rochussenstraat in the center of Rotterdam. There he shot at a teacher (43) from the training center, who died shortly afterwards from his injuries. It appeared that he was specifically looking for the teacher, police say. Whether this is really the case is being investigated. The man was registered as a student at Erasmus University.

Just before the shooting in the training center, the same gunman had entered a house on Heiman Dullaertplein, not far from the hospital in the Delfshaven district. There he shot and killed a 39-year-old woman. Her fourteen-year-old daughter was seriously injured and died a few hours later. The suspect lived near those victims, possibly he was a neighbor. Fire broke out in both the home and the hospital after the shootings.

It makes me angry and sad and you feel it in your body and down to your toes

Ahmed Aboutaleb mayor

32-year-old man arrested

Shortly after the exchange of gunfire in the classroom, a 32-year-old man was arrested at one of the hospital exits. He was wearing a bulletproof vest and a firearm.

During the hastily arranged press conference in the city hall at the beginning of the evening, Mayor Ahmed Aboutaleb said: “It makes me angry and sad and you feel it in your body and down to your toes.” Chief public prosecutor Hugo Hillenaar spoke of a “pitched black afternoon in Rotterdam. A large police team is conducting an investigation that is being carried out meticulously.” Nothing is yet known about a motive, Hollenaar said. He also said the suspect was prosecuted and convicted of animal cruelty in 2021. The Rotterdam regional news website Rijnmond.nl spoke to a local resident who said that the shot woman had reported her neighbor’s animal abuse several times. She is also said to have reported the incident to the housing association. He allegedly abused his dog and his rabbits.

Chief of the Rotterdam police, Fred Westerbeke, told the press conference that action was immediately scaled up when reports of the shootings came in. It indeed went very quickly, says Miranda Schmidt, who was with the ophthalmologist. “We were directed outside by hospital staff in orange vests and by people from the arrest team.”

Sirens sound throughout the center

At the start of rush hour the city is turned upside down. Emergency services have been deployed in large numbers, sirens are sounding throughout the center. Rochussenstraat and Westzeedijk, wide streets along the hospital, are full of fire engines, ambulances and police cars. Two helicopters hang in the air. The area is also scanned with a drone to look for any other suspects.

The crowd around the hospital continues to grow after three hours. The environment turns white with the uniforms of hospital staff who have left their workplaces. There are also people with a bouquet of flowers who just wanted to visit. Students from the adjacent gymnasium zigzag between waiting people. They had been asked to leave the school.

It is initially completely unclear what happened. The atmosphere is excited. Everyone scrolls on their phone looking for the latest news. What the hell is going on? It is clear that shots were fired. But are there any injuries? Kill? Nurses call colleagues who are still inside to get the latest status. But those colleagues inside don’t know anything either. “This looked like an American movie,” says an administrative employee.

Innocent victims were killed today in a place where everyone should feel safe. We find it difficult to comprehend

Ernst Kuipers minister

‘Operating rooms monitored’

Some patients are also outside. People in wheelchairs, on crutches. There is also someone with an IV. At the front of the hospital, a patient is wheeled out with her bed and all. But many patients cannot be evacuated easily because they are dependent on equipment. There are even operations underway at the time of the shootings. These wards are barricaded and guarded, say nurses outside.

By five o’clock the seriousness of the situation really becomes clear. People have been shot. Because it becomes known that the shooter has been arrested, many people wait around the hospital. Staff members still have their coats, bags and wallets inside and therefore cannot leave. Outpatients also cannot leave because the bicycle sheds and garages are still closed.

Statements of support

Expressions of support for the victims of the shootings have poured in from all over the country, including from the king and queen. Before becoming minister, Minister of Health Ernst Kuipers (D66) was head of Erasmus MC. “Innocent victims fell today in a place where everyone should feel safe,” he writes on X. “Attacked in a place where people are treated and doctors of the future are trained. We find it difficult to comprehend.”

One of those waiting is Clemens Wortel, from Hooge Zwaluwe. He was also talking to a doctor when an arrest team entered. Now he waits outside, leaning against a hospital windowsill, patiently until he can get to his car. Tomorrow he will make another appointment.

Correction: based on information from the police, an incorrect age of the deceased teacher was stated in an earlier version. He was not 46 years old, but 43. That has been adjusted.

In collaboration with Marcel Haenen and Liam van de Ven