Dutch police were liable for a 2011 mall shooting in which six people were killed as the gunman should never have been granted an gun licence, an appeals court ruled Tuesday.

The surprise ruling comes as the issue of gun control is high on the global agenda following a series of deadly armed assaults in the United States.

The Netherlands was thrown into mourning after Tristan van der Vlis went on a Saturday lunchtime shooting spree in the town of Alphen aan de Rijn in April 2011.

Six people died and 16 were wounded as Van der Vlis fired three weapons, unleashing a hail of automatic gunfire in the packed mall, before turning the gun on himself.

A member of a shooting club, the 24-year-old had been given a gun permit in 2008. He said in a letter to his parents before the attack that he was unhappy, and wanted to commit suicide.

"The police are liable for the personal injury and the deaths caused by the shooting at the De Ridderhof shopping centre," the court said in a statement on Tuesday.

"The standard that a gun licence must be refused if there are any concerns about abuse is there precisely to protect citizens from the damaging consequences of such abuse," it said.

The appeals court in The Hague overturned an earlier 2015 ruling by a lower court, which merely said the police had made mistakes.

Instead, Tuesday's ruling found that police had been negligent in granting Van der Vlis a licence to own guns after his previous application in 2005 had been turned down because he was found to have illegally fired an airgun.

It had also emerged that Van der Vlis suffered from psychological problems, dating back to 2006, which should have raised a red flag with police.

The judges therefore "ordered the police to pay compensation to the families of those killed as well as the wounded", and to pay the court costs of the 51 plaintiffs.

For the normally peaceful Dutch, unused to large-scale violence, the shooting came as a shock. One witness called it the day the country "lost its innocence." </s> Dutch police are liable for a mass shooting because the gunman should never have been granted a firearms licence, a court has ruled.

Tristan van der Vlis killed six people and injured 16 others when he unleashed a hail of automatic gunfire in a packed shopping mall in April 2011.

The 24-year-old later died after turning the gun on himself. In a letter to his parents before the attack, Van der Vlis said he was unhappy and wanted to kill himself.

The Netherlands was left in mourning after the attack in Alphen aan de Rijn - with one witness describing it as the day the country "lost its innocence".

An appeals court has now concluded that the police were negligent in granting Van der Vlis a licence to own guns, as a previous application by the attacker was rejected because he had illegally fired an airgun.

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Van der Vlis also suffered from psychological problems dating back to 2006, which should have raised a red flag with the police.

The appeal court's judgment quashes a 2015 ruling by a lower court which concluded that the police had merely made mistakes in the case.

As a result, the judges have ordered the police to pay compensation to the families of those killed and wounded - in addition to the court costs of 51 plaintiffs.

The surprise ruling comes as the issue of gun control is high on the global agenda following a series of deadly shootings in the US. </s> UTRECHT, Netherlands (Reuters) - Dutch police arrested a Turkish man suspected of shooting dead three people and wounding five on a tram in the Dutch city of Utrecht on Monday.

Utrecht police announced the suspect, 37-year-old Gokmen Tanis, had been taken into custody.

The city was put into lockdown after the shooting, shortly after the morning rush hour, which authorities initially said was an apparent terrorist attack. Police conducted raids in several locations.

But hours after the shooting, the gunman's motive remained unclear. A prosecutor said it could be for "family reasons" and Turkey's state-run Anadolu news agency, quoting relatives of the gunman, said he had fired at a relative on the tram and had then shot at others who tried to help her.

Helicopters hovered over the usually quiet mediaeval town.

Authorities had raised the terrorism threat in Utrecht province to its highest level, schools were told to shut their doors and paramilitary police increased security at airports, other vital infrastructure and at mosques.

Dutch Prime Minister Mark Rutte convened crisis talks immediately after the incident, which came three days after a lone gunman killed 50 people in mass shootings at two mosques in the city of Christchurch, New Zealand.

"Our country has today been shocked by an attack in Utrecht... A terrorist motive cannot be excluded," Rutte said.

"The first reports have led to disbelief and disgust. Innocent people have been struck by violence... We are now doing everything we can to find the perpetrator or perpetrators as soon as possible. That is now our complete focus."

The mayor of Utrecht, Jan van Zanen, said three people had been killed and nine injured, three of them seriously. The number of injured was later lowered to five.

Dutch police issued an image of Tanis and warned the public not to approach him.

The suspect had had previous run-ins with police, the prosecutor said. Local broadcaster RTV Utrecht said earlier the suspect was known to police for both minor and major crimes, including a shooting in 2013.

The shooting took place in Kanaleneiland, a quiet residential district on the outskirts of Utrecht with a large immigrant population.

"It’s frightening that something like this can happen so close to home," said Omar Rahhou, who said his parents lived on a street cordoned off by police. "These things normally happen far away but this brings it very close, awful."

Witness Daan Molenaar, who said he had been sitting at the front of the tram when the shooting started, told national broadcaster NOS he did not believe it was a terrorist attack.

"The first thing I thought was, this is some kind of revenge or something, or somebody who's really mad and grabbed a pistol," he said.

The streets of Utrecht were emptier than usual and mosques in the city kept their doors closed on Monday. Police screened off the site where at least one body lay covered near the tram.

Dutch television showed counter-terrorism units surrounding a house in Utrecht and sniffer dogs being put to work.

Utrecht, the Netherlands' fourth largest city with a population of around 340,000, is known for its picturesque canals and large student population. Gun killings are rare in Utrecht, as elsewhere in the Netherlands.

This story has not been edited by Firstpost staff and is generated by auto-feed.

Firstpost is now on WhatsApp. For the latest analysis, commentary and news updates, sign up for our WhatsApp services. Just go to Firstpost.com/Whatsapp and hit the Subscribe button. </s> New Zealand’s Cabinet has backed changes to gun laws in the country just three days after 50 people were killed in shootings at two mosques in Christchurch.

Police have also confirmed they believe “absolutely” that only one perpetrator was responsible for the attacks during Friday prayers.

Brenton Tarrant, a 28-year-old Australian, has been charged with murder and appeared at court on Saturday. He was remanded until April 5.

On Monday, prime minister Jacinda Ardern said the Cabinet had made “in principle” decisions about gun law reform, with further details to be announced by next Monday.

“This ultimately means that within 10 days of this horrific act of terrorism, we will have announced reforms which will, I believe, make our communities safer,” she said.

Ms Ardern said the Cabinet was “absolutely unified”, and said the shootings had “exposed a range of weaknesses” in New Zealand’s gun laws.

She added that there would be an inquiry into the events leading up to the attacks.

It also emerged that the alleged perpetrator bought four weapons online from a gun store in Christchurch.

David Tipple, owner of Gun City, said the alleged gunman bought four “A category” firearms and ammunition through a “police-verified online mail order process”.

Mr Tipple told reporters: “I returned from Europe on Saturday and immediately searched all our purchase records and found the alleged gunman’s purchases. I provided the police with full details of the sales.

“We detected nothing extraordinary about this licence holder.”

He added: “The MSSA (military-style semi-automatic) reportedly used by the alleged gunman was not purchased from Gun City.”

Mr Tipple said he and his staff were “devastated” by the shootings, adding: “We can’t comprehend how such despicable actions could be carried out on those in prayer in their place of worship.”

Meanwhile, New Zealand Police Commissioner Mike Bush said police were confident a lone attacker was responsible for the shootings.

“We believe absolutely there was only one attacker responsible for this,” he said.

“That doesn’t mean there weren’t possibly people in support and that is to form an important part of our investigation.”

On Monday morning, two homes in New South Wales, Australia, were raided by police in connection with the mosque attacks.

Officers from the NSW Joint Counter Terrorism Team executed a search warrant at a home in the town of Sandy Beach, near Coffs Harbour, 330 miles north of Sydney, at 8.30am (9.30pm Sunday GMT).

A short time later, a second warrant was executed at a home further north in Lawrence, near MacLean.

New South Wales Police said: “The primary aim of the activity is to formally obtain material that may assist New Zealand Police in their ongoing investigation.”

“The family of the Australian man arrested in Christchurch continues to assist police with their inquiries.”

Thirty-one people remain in Christchurch Hospital after the mass shootings, nine of them in intensive care.

A four-year-old girl is in a critical condition in Starship Hospital in Auckland, while her father is in the same hospital in a serious but stable condition.

Tarrant appeared to have live-streamed the terror attack and outlined his anti-immigrant motives in a manifesto posted online.

On Sunday, Ms Ardern said her office was one of more than 30 recipients of an emailed copy of the manifesto just nine minutes before guns were fired.

Facebook said it had removed 1.5 million videos of the attack worldwide in the 24 hours after the shootings, 1.2 million of which were blocked at upload.

Of those killed in the massacre, 42 died at the Masjid Al Noor mosque on Deans Avenue in central Christchurch, seven were killed at the suburban Linwood Masjid Mosque, and one person died at Christchurch Hospital.

In the video live-streamed by Tarrant, a man inside a mosque appears to say: “Welcome brother”, as a gunman approaches.

A number of improvised explosive devices found on a vehicle after the shootings were defused by police.

British security sources said there were no apparent UK links to the attack. </s> UTRECHT, Netherlands (Reuters) - Dutch police arrested a Turkish man suspected of shooting dead three people and wounding five on a tram in the Dutch city of Utrecht on Monday.

Police said the suspect, 37-year-old Gokmen Tanis, had been taken into custody after an hours-long manhunt and had earlier run-ins with authorities in the Netherlands.

The city was put into lockdown after the shooting, shortly after the morning rush hour, which authorities initially said was an apparent terrorist attack. Police conducted raids in several locations after issuing an image of Tanis and warning the public not to approach him.

But hours after the shooting, the gunman’s motive remained unclear. A prosecutor said it could be for “family reasons” and Turkey’s state-run Anadolu news agency, quoting relatives of the gunman, said he had fired at a relative on the tram and had then shot at others who tried to help her.

The Turkish intelligence agency said it is investigating whether the attack was personally motivated or an act of terrorism, President Tayyip Erdogan said.

Earlier on Wednesday, Dutch authorities had raised the terrorism threat in Utrecht province to its highest level, schools were told to shut their doors and paramilitary police increased security at airports, other vital infrastructure and at mosques.

The threat level was reduced by one notch to where it had been after the suspect was arrested, the National Counter-Terrorism Agency said.

Dutch Prime Minister Mark Rutte convened crisis talks immediately after the incident, which came three days after a lone gunman killed 50 people in mass shootings at two mosques in the city of Christchurch, New Zealand.

“Our country has today been shocked by an attack in Utrecht... A terrorist motive cannot be excluded,” Rutte said. “The first reports have led to disbelief and disgust. Innocent people have been struck by violence.”

The mayor of Utrecht, Jan van Zanen, said three people had been killed and five injured, three of them critically.

The suspect had previously been arrested, regional prosecutor Rutger Jeuken told reporters, without giving further details.

The shooting took place in Kanaleneiland, a quiet residential district on the outskirts of Utrecht with a large immigrant population.

“It’s frightening that something like this can happen so close to home,” said Omar Rahhou, who said his parents lived on a street cordoned off by police. “These things normally happen far away but this brings it very close, awful.”

Witness Daan Molenaar, who said he had been sitting at the front of the tram when the shooting started, told national broadcaster NOS he did not believe it was a terrorist attack.

“The first thing I thought was, this is some kind of revenge or something, or somebody who’s really mad and grabbed a pistol,” he said.

Utrecht, the Netherlands’ fourth largest city with a population of around 340,000, is known for its picturesque canals and large student population. Gun killings are rare in Utrecht, as elsewhere in the Netherlands. </s> Image: Vesa Winberg / Yle

A fatal shooting occurred at midnight on Saturday in the city of Imatra, where a 23-year-old assailant killed three women with a rifle, police say.

One of the victims was the chair of the Imatra City Council, and the two others were local print journalists. Police deny all rumours surrounding the motivation of the crime, which they are treating as murder.

The hunting rifle used in the murder had a permit, but did not belong to the attacker, police say.

The shooter has been apprehended and the scene of the crime, restaurant Vuoksenvahti, has been cordoned off.

"The persons were exiting the restaurant when they were fired upon," Yle reporter Jari Tanskanen said on site this morning. "People here are devastated."

Course of events

Police received an alert at 00.00 on Saturday of a man with a gun in front of restaurant Vuoksenvahti. Police were some 300 metres from the scene at the time of the call.

Image: Yle Uutisgrafiikka

As the patrol came nearer to the scene local people directed the police to the front of the restaurant, where the situation was described as hectic. A 23-year-old man was pointed out and allegedly identified as the shooter.

The man was standing in front of a parked car in front of the restaurant. He followed police orders and was apprehended without incident.

Three lifeless female bodies were found lying in front of the restaurant. The women had sustained gunshot wounds to the head and torso. No other victims are reported.

An ambulance and several police patrols also arrived at the scene. The suspect has not yet been interrogated.

Police say they do not yet know the alleged shooter's motive for the crime. The man is suspected to have used a rifle to carry out the shooting.

Emergency crisis centre opened

A local emergency crisis centre has been opened in Imatra for all those shocked by the crime. The crisis centre at Olavinkatu 13 has church and volunteer rescue workers on hand.

A small number of people have already visited the crisis centre, which will remain open until 7 p.m. on Sunday. A possible extension to the opening hours of the centre will be considered later today Sunday.

"We are working closely with law enforcement and the rescue services," says Saara Raudasoja from the South Karelia Social and Health Care District. "We all react strongly when people die. We have rehearsed crisis situations and health workers are on site to help those upset by the events of last night."

Edited to include updated information. </s> Authorities in the Netherlands have arrested a suspect involved in a shooting that killed three people and injured five others in a tram in the central Dutch city of Utrecht on Monday morning.

Utrecht police identified the suspect in the shooting as Gökmen Tanis, a 37-year-old man who was born in Turkey. The shooting prompted a manhunt in the city and authorities said they were considering all motives, including terrorism.

During a press conference on Monday, Utrecht Mayor Jan van Zanen said they were still searching for the suspect.

However, at the end of the press conference, authorities were informed that the "main suspect" involved in the shooting had been detained. Police confirmed that that the suspect was Tanis. </s> A gunman who killed four people and injured another in the Australian city of Darwin used an illegal pump-action shotgun, police say.

The 45-year-old suspect, who was known to police, was arrested about an hour after the first shots were fired on Tuesday.

Police said the gunman carried out attacks at several locations and may have been searching for a "specific individual".

It was not terror-related, they added.

Authorities have not identified the victims or the suspect.

Mass shootings in Australia have been a rare occurrence since the country overhauled its gun laws in 1996, in the wake of a shooting in Tasmania that left 35 people dead.

Those reforms included restrictions on gun ownership and the banning of all semi-automatic and automatic firearms.

The weapon used on Tuesday was a prohibited 12-gauge pump-action shotgun, said Northern Territory Police Commissioner Reece Kershaw.

The alleged gunman, who had been on parole since January, was wearing an electronic tag at the time.

Police said he travelled to several places across the city, including the Palms Hotel in the suburb of Woolner. There he allegedly opened fire in a number of rooms before fleeing.

One person was reportedly killed at the motel while another person was wounded.

Another person was killed at Buff Club, another at Gardens Hill Crescent and another at Jolly Street. Police said the suspect also went to the Peter McAulay Centre - a police operations base.

Witnesses said the suspect appeared to have been searching for a specific person called "Alex".

"We know he was looking for one individual," Commissioner Kershaw told reporters on Wednesday.

The suspect remains in police custody at the Royal Darwin Hospital and is due to be charged with murder, he added.

Northern Territory Chief Minister Michael Gunner said officials would conduct an urgent review of all prisoners on parole in the wake of the shootings.

"The Northern Territory Government will do everything in its power to determine what led to these tragic events and how this violence occurred," Mr Gunner said.

Australian Prime Minister Scott Morrison said on Tuesday the shootings were a "terrible act of violence".

Australia saw its worst mass shooting incident in more than 20 years last year when seven members of the same family died in a murder-suicide.

More recently, a man was killed and three others wounded in a shooting outside a popular nightclub in Melbourne in April. </s> The Hague, June 27 (Reuters) - A Dutch appeals court on Tuesday confirmed that the Netherlands was partly liable for the deaths of some 300 Muslim males who were expelled from a Dutch U.N. base after the surrounding area was overrun by Bosnian Serb troops.

The ruling by the Hague Appeals Court upholds a 2014 decision that Dutch peace-keepers should have known that the men seeking refuge at the base near Srebrenica would be murdered by Bosnian Serb troops if they were forced to leave -- as they were.

States participating in U.N. peacekeeping missions have rarely faced legal action over their performance.

Lenneke Sprik, an international security lecturer at Amsterdam's VU University said the ruling was "very important for future peacekeeping missions and the law on state responsibility." She said the decision might deter countries from contributing peace-keeping troops to future missions.

Some 8,000 Muslim men and boys were killed by Bosnian Serb troops under the command of former General Ratko Mladic at Srebrenica in July 1995, the worst mass killing on European soil since World War Two.

Many of the Muslim victims had fled to the U.N.-declared "safe zone" in Srebrenica only to find the outnumbered and lightly-armed Dutch troops there unable to defend them. They then headed to the nearby Dutch base.

Reading the complex ruling, Presiding Judge Gepke Dulek-Schermers said that Dutch soldiers "knew or should have known that the men were not only being screened ... but were in real danger of being subjected to torture or execution."

The ruling relates only to the 300 men who had sought safety on the Dutch-controlled base.

In a departure from the earlier ruling, it said the Netherlands should pay only 30 percent of damages, as it estimated the odds at 70 percent that the victims would have been dragged from the base and killed regardless of what the Dutch soldiers did.

The amount of damages is determined in a separate procedure unless the victims and the state can reach a settlement.

Dutch state lawyers left the court building without commenting on the ruling. The Dutch government resigned in 2002 after acknowledging its failure to protect the refugees, though the Netherlands maintains that the Bosnian Serbs, not Dutch troops, bear responsibility for the killings.

Mladic is on trial for genocide with a verdict expected later this year.

The court rejected an appeal from relatives of other Srebrenica victims, who argued the Dutch government should be held responsible for the protection of thousands more Muslims who had gathered outside the base.

"This is a great injustice," said Munira Subasic of the 'Mothers of Srebrenica' group. "The Dutch state should take its responsibility for our victims because they could have kept them all safe on the Dutchbat (Dutch battalions') compound."
A Dutch court rules police are liable for a mass shooting at a shopping centre that killed six and wounded sixteen because the gunman should not have been issued a firearms licence.