A hostage drama at a nightclub in the eastern Netherlands ended peacefully after several hours yesterday with the arrest of a suspect – a man wearing a balaclava mask who exited the building and surrendered to police.
“The last hostage has just been released. One person has been arrested,” a police statement said. “We cannot share more information at this time.”
Several people, including employees, had been taken hostage at the Cafe Petticoat in the town of Ede early yesterday morning. The motive was unclear.
Officials said at a news briefing that the suspect, who was previously known to police, had threatened the hostages with knives. There was no indication of a terrorist motive, police have said.
The suspect walked out of the club, put his hands behind his head and got to his knees before being handcuffed by police, a Reuters video journalist at the scene said.
Police explosives units had been deployed to the building in the town centre. Streets in the area had been evacuated and trains cancelled to the town, nearly 80km from Amsterdam.
Police said at around 12.45pm local time, some five hours after their first communications on the issue, that a man had been arrested and that the “last hostage has been released,” but that they could not immediately say more.
Marthyne Kunst, the head of the public prosecutor’s office for East Netherlands, said at a Press conference soon after the arrest that the suspect had a black rucksack and knives on his person which he had shown to the hostages. He claimed to have explosives as well.
“We are now fully investigating it and we are searching the cafe,” Kunst said. “We do not know yet what is in that backpack.”
Kunst said the motive for the attack was not clear and was now being investigated, as was the suspect’s mental state. He was already known to law enforcement because of past threats issued, she said.
Both Mayor Rene Verhulst and a police officer spoke of an “intense” morning and operation in the city, albeit one that appeared to have been resolved without bloodshed.
The first emergency call reached police around 5.15am yesterday with officers on the scene within a matter of minutes, Anne Jan Oosterheert, head of operations for East Netherlands police, said at the Press conference.
The hostages were staff at the popular cafe and nightclub who were cleaning up after Friday’s festivities.
Negotiations continued throughout the morning, Oosterheert said: “And fortunately that turned out well. We are grateful for that.”
Ede Mayor Rene Verhulst issued a statement on the incident saying that his thoughts went out to those affected by the “terrible situation.”
“I hope the situation is now resolved quickly,” Verhulst said.
Ede is a large town of around 120,000 people roughly 75km southeast of Amsterdam, it’s not far from Arnhem and the German border to its east.
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