Shopping centre shooting: gunman fired more than 100 times

The gunman who shot dead six people at a shopping centre in Alphen aan der Rijn fired more than 100 times, the public prosecution department said on Monday.


Three weapons found in the Ridderhof centre in the commuter town had all been used by the gunman, 24-year-old Tristan van der Vlis, the department said.
Questions are now being asked about why Van der Vlis was granted a gun licence, given his history of mental instability.

Rules

Sander Duisterhof, director of the Dutch gun owners association, told the AD the police may have failed to apply the rules properly in Van der Vlis’s case.
As a teenager he had been questioned by a police in connection with an air gun incident and spent 10 days in a psychiatric institution in 2009 with severe suicidal thoughts.
People who are members of a gun club can apply for a licence to own weapons after being a member for a year. The licence must be renewed annually and involves a police check, the AD said.
Nine people who survived Saturday’s shooting remain in hospital and at least one is in a critical
condition.
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