The car that police say was used by the main suspect to escape the scene of the attack.
Dutch prosecutors have said they are seriously considering a possible terrorist motive for the shooting in Utrecht, and have so far been unable to find a link between the main suspect and the three people who were killed, reports The Guardian.
The regional public prosecutor's office said in a statement that the investigators' view was based on the nature of the shooting on Monday, which took place on a tram and wounded five other people, and a letter found in the getaway car.
"Other motives cannot be excluded and are still being investigated," the statement said, adding that a firearm had been recovered and several buildings in Utrect had been searched. "At this point a terrorist motive is still being taken seriously."The suspected gunman, Gökmen Tanis, 37, was detained on a street in the north of the city several hours after the 10.45am shooting at the central 24 Oktoberplein junction.
Tuesday's statement said three people were seriously wounded in the shooting and four more sustained light injuries. It identified the dead as a 19-year-old woman from nearby Vianen, and two men, aged 28 and 49, from Utrecht.Separately, Dutch police said two other people, reportedly brothers, had been arrested on suspicion of involvement in the shooting, which authorities initially declared a possible terrorist incident before suggesting other reasons, including a family dispute.
Several witnesses told Dutch media that the Turkish-born gunman, who appeared in court on rape charges earlier this month and was reportedly known to police for a string of offences including threatening a woman with murder, had appeared to target one woman on the tram and then fired at those who tried to help her.
Utrecht, the Netherlands' fourth-largest city, spent much of Monday in lockdown as authorities asked residents to stay at home. Students were prevented from leaving schools and colleges, and many shops in the area closed.Ties Kortmann, a spokesman for the prosecutor's office, confirmed earlier on Tuesday that Tanis was being held on suspicion of manslaughter with a possible terrorist motive.
There were initial reports of shootings in other areas of the city on Monday but these were later discounted by police. Police said a red Renault Clio was stolen near the Oktoberplein shortly before the attack, and was later found abandoned with a note, the contents of which have not been released.
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