Hostage Situation at Amsterdam Apple Store Officially Ends, Dutch Police Reveal
17:52 GMT 22.02.2022 (Updated: 22:47 GMT 22.02.2022)
© AP Photo / Matthias Schrader
Subscribe
After hours of attempting to put an end to a hostage take-over at an Apple store in Leidseplein, police say in a tweet that they were able to stop the man by "hitting him as he ran out". A video posted to Twitter shows the man being hit with a police car.
"We managed to stop the hostage-taker by hitting him as he ran out. Violent images of that collision can be seen. We now know that the suspect had no explosives on his body and medical personnel are now taking care of him," the police said in a tweet.
A Twitter user posted a video of the alleged hostage-taker to Twitter, which shows the man being hit by a police car.
Alleged hostage-taker being hit by police car in #Amsterdam. #leidseplein pic.twitter.com/PXzXFbU1Yq
— Lauren Comiteau (@LaurenComiteau) February 22, 2022
Police, who have been reluctant to release details about the investigation as it is still ongoing, also apologized to local residents for use of a helicopter around 11:00 p.m.
Several people had been released from the armed hostage situation at the Amsterdam Apple store leading up to the suspect's capture. What is suspected to be an armed robbery had taken place at the brand's location in Leidseplein at around 5:40 p.m. according to reports.
omg there’s a hostage situation going on at the Apple Store in Amsterdam https://t.co/twiiTnMTSL
— jente (@positionsneedy) February 22, 2022
Police tweeted around 9 p.m. that several people had been able to leave the Apple store which was taken hostage on Tuesday afternoon around 5:40 p.m. The person in question has been seen in social media posts and videos wearing a black hooded sweatshirt, camouflage pants while brandishing a gun and holding a victim in a headlock position.
Close to 9 p.m. Amsterdam police tweeted, "Since the start of the hostage situation in the Apple Store on Leidseplein, several people have been able to leave the building. We do not want to share any information about the situation in and around the building at the moment."
The police did not identify the store as Apple at first, but images and videos posted to social media involving the scene show an armed person inside the store. The police wrote to their Twitter account at the time of the incident that they were at the scene with "many (specialized) units to bring the situation under control."
Authorities in #Amsterdam are apprehending a hostage-taker in an #AppleStore in the city.
— 🌎 Sarwar 🌐 (@ferozwala) February 22, 2022
Dutch media outlet, RTL Nieuws, are speculating that the hostage-taker is an armed robber.#Netherlands #Breaking pic.twitter.com/mWQMvyTzH6
In an attempt to control the safety of the hostage situation, Amsterdam police asked residents to avoid the scene and stay inside, "We ask local residents, entrepreneurs and employees at Leidseplein not to come and look outside and to stay inside," they wrote in a tweet shortly after arriving on the scene.
At around half past seven AT5 reported that the police escorted civilians who were in buildings near/around the Apple store away from Leidseplein, in an attempt to mitigate the situation.
Vermoedelijke gijzeling Apple Store Leidseplein #overval #leidseplein pic.twitter.com/mMmgnRFNQG
— Thom (@vdhthom) February 22, 2022
Amsterdam police have said that they will use any photos or videos posted to social media as a part of their on-going investigation, but were reluctant to post detailed updates out of fear of disrupting their investigation as well as other safety efforts.
A Twitter user posted a video of the scene, writing that locals were seemingly unphased by the unfolding crime, as they can be seen biking around the special police units and flashing lights, unaware, "Locals unimpressed, biking around. Probably getting used to 'incidents' in our peaceful, loving capital. 'Gaaf Land' as we say," wrote user @SBergsma.
