A hostage situation at an Apple Store in the Dutch city of Amsterdam ended dramatically on Tuesday night when the suspect was hit by a police vehicle as he ran from the store in pursuit of a hostage.
The incident started at around 5:40 p.m. local time (11:40 a.m. ET) on Tuesday, February 22, when police received reports of gunshots at the store in the bustling Leidseplein district just over a mile from Amsterdam’s main train station.
Some reports suggested the incident started as an armed robbery, with the suspect suddenly taking hostages when the officers showed up. With police in position outside the store, all but one of the hostages managed to escape the siege in the hours that followed.
There is an ongoing hostage situation at the Apple Store at Leidseplein at the moment. To ensure the safety of all people involved we are not able to share information about the situation and/or actions taken by the police.
— Politie Eenheid Amsterdam (@POL_Amsterdam) February 22, 2022
As the incident went on, the suspect contacted local news outlet AT5 to demand a cryptocurrency payment and safe passage from the store. He also sent selfies showing what appeared to be a bomb vest.
A photo (below) shows the suspect — reported to be a 27-year-old man from outside the Netherlands — with his arm around the neck of the remaining hostage.
At around 10:45 p.m., some five hours after the incident started, the hostage fled the store with the suspect in pursuit. Graphic footage captured by a witness shows a police car driving at high speed toward the man and knocking him to the ground. The hostage escaped unhurt.
With the suspect remaining down, police sent in a robot to find out if the bomb vest was genuine. After confirming it was fake, officers arrested the man before sending him to the hospital. It’s believed no one else was hurt during the siege.
Dutch police plan to give more details about the incident at a press conference on Wednesday morning.
While Apple Stores have been the target of robberies in the past, it’s rare for a hostage incident like this to take place. The tech giant is yet to make any public comment on what took place at its Amsterdam store on Tuesday night.
