The have-a-go hero who stopped and sat on the suspect in Thursday’s mass stabbing in central Amsterdam is a tourist and may be British, the AD reported on Friday, based on eyewitness accounts.

The police have not confirmed who the man is, only stating that he is not a Dutch national. The man has given a statement to the police about the chase and citizen’s arrest.

“He did a great job,” a police spokesman told the paper. “We’re very proud of him, but we also want to point out that you need to be very careful if you want to make a citizen’s arrest. Most people are not trained for this sort of thing.”

Many people on social media are calling for the man to be given a medal, and the city council may even be planning to recognise his deed, the paper said. Others have suggested he may have had military training.

Images of him giving chase and then sitting on the suspect until the police arrived have been viewed millions of times around the world.

Victims

Four of the five stabbing victims were foreign nationals—two Americans aged 69 and 67, a 73-year-old woman from Belgium, and a 26-year-old man from Poland. The Dutch victim was a 19-year-old woman from Amsterdam who lived in the alley where she was attacked, according to the Parool.

The stabbings took place in several locations close to Dam Square in the centre of the city on Thursday afternoon.

“The motive behind the attack is currently unclear and under investigation,” the police said in a statement. The attacks are thought to have been random and eyewitnesses say the suspect seemed to be stabbing wildly around him.

The police are expected to give more details about the suspect, who was injured in the arrest, later on Friday.

On Thursday evening they raided a hotel on the nearby Damrak where, according to the Telegraaf, the suspect may have been staying.