Apple Issues Statement Following Resolved Hostage Situation At Amsterdam Store

[MacRumors]

Apple has praised Dutch police as well as customers and staff at an Amsterdam store where a hostage situation yesterday came to a close with no injuries to the public and the suspect detained in custody.

In a statement obtained by TechCrunch, Apple said that all employees and customers are safe after the "terrifying experience" at Apple Amsterdam in Leidseplein on Tuesday.

"We want to thank local law enforcement for their exceptional work and ongoing investigation," said the statement, provided by an Apple spokesperson. "Our teams and customers took swift action and showed incredible strength and resolve today, and we are so thankful for the support and care they've shown each other under such challenging circumstances."

The statement came hours after local police resolved the hostage situation at the flagship store, which saw a man in camouflage gear and a balaclava fire a gun at least four times and then hold at least one person hostage for several hours before being apprehended.

A photo shared by local newspaper Het Parool showed the hostage taker sitting opposite the hostage, who appeared handcuffed with his hands behind his back. Several other people were also reported to have been inside when the incident began, but managed to escape unharmed.

The attack, which lasted from around 5:30 p.m. local time until 10:45 p.m., saw the store cordoned off and people in surrounding buildings ordered to stay indoors. According to police, the hostage-taker contacted authorities during the incident and demanded 200 million euros ($227 million) in cryptocurrency and a safe exit from the Apple store.

https://twitter.com/x/status/1496229024682721280

AT5 Echt Amsterdams Nieuws reported that the standoff came to an end when the hostage-taker requested water which was taken into the store by a robot, at which point the hostage attempted to run to safety. As the suspect chased after the hostage, police on the scene hit the running suspect with an armored BMW X5 and then checked him for explosives using a robot, which confirmed none were present.

According to the police, the suspect is a 27-year-old Amsterdam resident who sent selfies to the local press during the incident that appeared to show him wearing a bomb vest. The suspect was in possession of both an automatic weapon and a handgun. It's still unknown what prompted the incident, but he is believed to have acted alone.

Article Link: Apple Issues Statement Following Resolved Hostage Situation At Amsterdam Store

 

[TMRJIJ]

Glad to know that everyone is safe

 

[rukia]

Hostage taker watched “Money Heist” too many times.

 

[jdelaune]

Why does it look like the hostage taker has given the hostage their automatic weapon in that photo…

 

[ghostface147]

Plenty of video on Reddit of the suspect getting turned upside down by the SUV. Idiot.

 

[nikaru]

Probably this guy liked so much the covid lock down, that he wanted some permanent lock down for himself...

Jokes apart, I'm glad that everyone is OK and at least one more crazy person, is already behind bars.

 

[loby]

What people will do not to wait a month for the MacBook Pro..(joking of course)

Glad no one was hurt.

 

[Reggaenald]

Not to sound cynical, but 200.000.000€ for basically one random person was bound to fail. No way anyone would pay that.

 

[fischersd]

Would be great if MR would stop overusing the term "flagship". Note that's singular? You could call the very first Apple store that opened their flagship store....you also do the same when talking about their devices. Pick one. The term is singular.

 

[draugminaion]

Reportedly he had explosives on him, but they were not armed.
He had threatened to use them.

 

[draugminaion]

Probably this guy liked so much the covid lock down, that he wanted some permanent lock down for himself...

Jokes apart, I'm glad that everyone is OK and at least one more crazy person, is already behind bars.

The bad guy with a gun got hit by a police car. He is not doing great.

Spectaculaire beelden tonen hoe gijzelaar ontsnapt en politie inrijdt op gijzelnemer Apple Store Amsterdam

De urenlange gijzeling in de Apple Store aan het Leidseplein in Amsterdam is dinsdagavond spectaculair ten einde gekomen. Nieuwe beelden tonen hoe de gijzelaar kon ontsnappen en de politie de 27-jarige gijzelnemer kon arresteren door hem aan te rijden.

www.nieuwsblad.be

 

[apparatchik]

Kudos to the professionalism of the Dutch police. Though comparisons are hard to make, due to the nature of a hostage situation, in the US the likelihood of somebody being murder if at least the hostage taker is a lot higher, while in the case of Russia, everybody dies.

 

[Madhatter32]

The criminals in the United States are so much more competent:

Per CNBC:
The situation ended when the hostage, reportedly a 44-year old British man, fled from the building when a police robot delivered water at the door of the store at the request of the hostage taker.

The hostage taker ran after the man and was quickly hit by the car.

 

[applicious84]

Apple phones are getting expensive enough that this was bound to happen. How else could you get a Pro Max?

 

[Zoboomafoo]

After browsing the “Deep Web” one time a few years ago, I am no longer surprised by the resources people have access to.

It’s the dark web. Time for you to watch some letterkenny. Pitter patter!

 

[ZzapDK]

Why does it look like the hostage taker has given the hostage their automatic weapon in that photo…

The hostage taker is probably quoting Clint Eastwood at that moment

 

[jonnysods]

That is pretty intense!

 

[kerr]

Devastating that the suspect was taken alive

 

[barkomatic]

I didn't realize that one could obtain those kinds of guns--or any guns--in the Netherlands.

 

[Amazing Iceman]

Incredible that the situation was handled by the local Police. No S.W.A.T. Team or FBI involved, which usually complicates matters most.

As for the hostage, common sense may have help him realize that his captor was not going to shoot his only hostage.
Sending a robot with water was a good distraction, and the hostage brave enough to run out (but still he took a great risk! He may have evaluated the situation and considered it was wise to run out).

 

[DogHouseDub]

That guy was REALLY upset about this whole Apple vs Dutch Competition Authority kerfuffle.

Then he heard that Apple hands out multi-million Euro checks without batting an eye.

 

[now i see it]

iOS updates can make people snap

 

[KiDo]

Incredible that the situation was handled by the local Police. No S.W.A.T. Team or FBI involved, which usually complicates matters most.

As for the hostage, common sense may have help him realize that his captor was not going to shoot his only hostage.
Sending a robot with water was a good distraction, and the hostage brave enough to run out (but still he took a great risk! He may have evaluated the situation and considered it was wise to run out).

It was handled by police at first, but shortly after by the DSI, our anti terrorist special forces unit. Part of our military defense force, definitely not local police. They even used a bearcat, a bad ass piece of equipment we got from our friends in the USA.

Also not the only hostage, there were about 70 people locked inside the building, of which they managed to rescue about 18 about halfway through, there is footage of that on social media. And then there were 4 who hid in a closet on the ground floor during the entire ordeal.

Police today confirmed that the assailant was in fact wearing explosives, but they were not armed.

 

[sunapple]

What I found pretty chilling were these aftermath photos of bullet holes in the glass made from the inside (there were 4, the bullets did not go through):

 

[kyjaotkb]

Macrumors, the article leaves us wanting. It was a BMW X5, which is a crucial piece of info, but what model was it, exactly? What trim does the Dutch police go for and does it have CarPlay?