A man shouting “Allahu akbar” went on a knife rampage in the Dutch city of Rotterdam, killing one and seriously injuring another. The suspect was reportedly armed with two “long knives” when he launched an attack in a parking lot near the city’s Erasmus Bridge. Bystanders overpowered the unnamed knifeman, holding him until police arrived. Prosecutors later told reporters they had charged the suspect with murder and attempted murder with a terrorist motive.
In a published statement, prosecuting attorneys said the alleged killer was “possibly driven by ideology,” indicated by his “Allahu akbar” statements immediately before launching his attack.
Police confirmed that the deceased victim was a 32-year-old Rotterdam native, and the wounded man is a 33-year-old Swiss national. The suspect, who has not been named, reportedly resides in the city of Amersfoort – around 50 miles from Rotterdam – and has previous convictions for violent offenses.
Dutch media outlets reported that the knifeman was initially taken down by personal trainer Reniël Renato David Litecia, who knocked him unconscious before others joined in to help restrain him. Mr. Litecia told police that he heard a commotion and thought a fight had broken out, but on further investigation, he realized what was happening. “I started shouting, he turned around and started approaching everyone who was around him,” he said.
The attack happened just weeks after a similar incident in neighboring Germany. Police in Solingen arrested a Syrian man in August after a knife attack left three people dead and eight injured. The Federal Court of Justice in Karlsruhe ordered the detention of a 26-year-old identified only as Issa Al H. after he turned himself in and reportedly admitted he had carried out the attack.
Prosecutors stated that the suspect “shared the ideology of the foreign terrorist organization Islamic State,” and on the basis of his religious conviction, he decided to kill as many “unbelievers” as he could.
The suspect turned himself over to police the day after he attacked a group of Christians gathered for a religious event in Soligen’s city center. He was not previously known to security services and was granted asylum in Germany in 2022.
