Rotterdam hospital official says questions were raised over alleged gunman’s mental state

ROTTERDAM, Netherlands — A medical student accused of killing three people in shootings at an apartment and a hospital in the Dutch city of Rotterdam had been undergoing psychological examinations to establish whether he was mentally fit to become a doctor, a hospital official said Friday.

The suspect, identified by Dutch media only as Fouad L., was arrested by heavily armed police on Thursday wearing a bulletproof vest and carrying a firearm, police said.

He allegedly shot a 39-year-old woman and her 14-year-old daughter in an apartment near his home on Thursday afternoon and then went to the nearby Erasmus Medical Center, where he shot a 43-year-old doctor who was teaching a class at the hospital. All three died of their injuries. Police and prosecutors said the shooter also started fires at both locations.

While prosecutors have not yet commented on a possible motive, Stefan Sleijfer, chairman of the Executive Board of Erasmus MC and dean of the Faculty of Medicine and Health Sciences, said the shootings could be linked to a psychological examination of the suspect linked to his studies.

“What happened was that we had previous signals from the police and they were asking us whether this person was fit and was suitable to become a medical doctor. And that was a signal that we took very seriously,” Sleijfer told The Associated Press.

“Subsequently the student was assessed whether he, from a mental perspective, was fit enough to become a medical doctor. And that was a process that was ongoing. So probably there is a relationship with that and the reason why he committed this horrible thing,” he added.

At a press conference Thursday night, the city’s chief public prosecutor confirmed that the suspect previously had been convicted in 2021 of mistreating an animal.