Utrecht shooting: Armed police surround house as hunt for gunman after deadly tram shooting

HEAVILY armed police have surrounded a house close to the scene of a deadly shooting in the Netherlands.
Rescue workers install a screen on the spot where a body was covered with a white blanket following a shooting in Utrecht, Netherlands, Monday, March 18, 2019. Police in the central Dutch city of Utrecht say on Twitter that "multiple" people have been injured as a result of a shooting in a tram in a residential neighborhood. (AP Photo/Peter Dejong)Rescue workers install a screen on the spot where a body was covered with a white blanket following a shooting in Utrecht, Netherlands, Monday, March 18, 2019. Police in the central Dutch city of Utrecht say on Twitter that "multiple" people have been injured as a result of a shooting in a tram in a residential neighborhood. (AP Photo/Peter Dejong)
Rescue workers install a screen on the spot where a body was covered with a white blanket following a shooting in Utrecht, Netherlands, Monday, March 18, 2019. Police in the central Dutch city of Utrecht say on Twitter that "multiple" people have been injured as a result of a shooting in a tram in a residential neighborhood. (AP Photo/Peter Dejong)

The attack happened at 24 October Square in the city of Utrecht, where police said one person died.

It is not yet known how many people in total have been were hurt, with eye witnesses claiming the gunman was firing into crowds of people.

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The assault sparked a major police operation involving specially-trained counter terrorism officers.

The suspect has not yet been apprehended, with the country’s national coordinator for security and counterterrorism, Pieter-Jaap Aalbersberg, saying the nation’s threat level had gone up.

But police armed with automatic weapons and wearing body armour have been spotted encircled a home in Trumanlaan, according to reports locally.

Meanwhile cities across the Netherlands have been put on high alert following the shooting..

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Police in Rotterdam revealed that patrols have been stepped up around mosques and stations as a precaution.

The attack began at about 9.45am UK time.

An eyewitness has said that a man ‘with a big gun’ began firing inside the tram.

The woman, who has not been named, told Dutch news network NRC: ‘He shot around, but seemed to be aiming at people sitting on the benches – everyone ducked away.

‘The conductor did not open the doors immediately. Two boys next to me kicked in a window, so I fled outside.’

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Police are said to be searching for a red Renault Clio following the attack. No arrests have been made.

The news comes just days after a deadly shooting in New Zealand claimed the lives of 50 people, with dozens more being injured.

In Portsmouth people will be paying tribute to the dead during a vigil in Guildhall Square from 6.30pm.