Suspect of Utrecht shooting arrested: police

THE HAGUE, March 18 (Xinhua) -- The suspect of a shooting, which resulted in three deaths and five injuries, on a tram in the Dutch city of Utrecht on Monday morning, has been arrested, local Police said.

"The suspect of the shooting at the #24oktoberplein was arrested at the Oudenoord in Utrecht. Earlier the Police published information and a photo of this same person," Utrecht Police said on its verified Twitter account on Monday evening.

Prior to the arrest, Utrecht Police described the suspect as Turkey-born, 37-years-old Gokmen Tanis.

The arrest took place by the time of the end of a joint press conference by the mayor of Utrecht, the public prosecutor and the Police, who were telling about the continuing manhunt for the suspect.

"We just heard that the suspect is arrested," Rob van Bree, head of operations Police Mid-Netherlands, suddenly said after being informed. The suspect was arrested at a house in the Oudenoord street in Utrecht.

Following the arrest, the Dutch National Coordinator for Counterterrorism and Security - the NCTV - reduced the threat level for the province of Utrecht from the maximum possible level of 5 to level 4, bringing the threat level for the Netherlands as a whole back to 4.

Earlier in the day, the NCTV temporarily raised the threat level from 4 to 5 exclusively for the province of Utrecht because it "cannot rule out that the shooting earlier today in the city of Utrecht has a terrorist motive" and "the suspect is still on the run."