
A gunman has killed three people on a tram in the Dutch city of Utrecht in what authorities said may have been a terror attack, and a suspect has been seized after an hours-long manhunt which saw schools and businesses in lockdown.

Turkish-born Gökmen Tanis, 37, was allegedly targeting one of his own relatives in this morning's shooting, which left five other people injured, and saw the terrorism threat level in Utrecht raised to the highest possible.

The suspect - who 'was known' to authorities - was detained during a raid on the Oudernoord district of Utrecht, and the threat level in the province has been downgraded by one notch as a result of the arrest, Dutch police confirmed. Two other arrests were also made by police probing the attacks.

Prime Minister of the Netherlands Mark Rutte said some people wounded in the tram attack 'are still in critical condition', with 'three people fighting for their lives'.

Tanis' relatives in Turkey told Anadolu news agency that the 37-year-old had opened fire on a relative 'for family reasons' and later shot at others trying to intervene.

The Turkish intelligence agency are investigating whether the attack was personally motivated or an act of terrorism, President Tayyip Erdogan said in a televised interview.

This photo, released by Utrecht police, shows Turkish-born Gökman Tanis, 37, on the tram's CCTV just minutes before the shooting began at 10.45am this morning

Tanis is seen on the tram just a few minutes before one person was left dead and several others wounded from gunfire

Incident: Emergency services cordoned off a tram in Utrecht, Holland, where an assailant opened fire on commuters at around 10.45 local time today

Dutch police take into custody Turkish-born Tanis, 37, after finding the suspect in the 11-flat property

According to local media the shooter shouted 'Allah Akbar' as he opened fire and that a note found in his car led investigators to initially believe a terrorist link.

But officers are working on the theory that he was targeting an ex-love or her family and he merely shouted in Arabic.

Mr Rutte added that 'a terror motive is not excluded' and that the attack was met throughout the country with 'a mix of disbelief and disgust'.

'If it had terror motives, that is being investigated. But it was very serious. The world shares our grief,' he said.

The Prime Minister has issued instructions for flags outside government buildings to fly at half-mast tomorrow, to show 'the whole of the Netherlands shares [the victims'] deep pain'.

Armed police raided a first floor apartment in Oudenoord, around two miles from where the attack happened, at 4pm, more than five hours after the incident.

Witness Dick Van Dikkenburg told MailOnline: 'The police told me to go inside my home for my own safety. There were many officers and they had drones flying above too.'

Tanis was hauled out of the flat at gunpoint with his face covered, after officers climbed over a barbed wire wall to surprise the alleged shooter from the back of the 11-flat building.

A second man was arrested during the raids, with authorities suspecting he was involved in today's deadly incident, according to a police press release.

Earlier today, Dutch police tweeted a photograph of Tanis, believed to have been captured on the tram's CCTV just four minutes before the incident at 10.45am this morning, and urged the public to 'look out for him but do not approach.'

Police officers are seen in front the building where the main suspect of the shooting has been arrested in Utrecht

Armed police raided a first floor apartment in Oudenoord, around two miles from where the attack happened, at 4pm, more than five hours after the incident

Police stand outside the flat. Tanis was hauled out of the flat at gunpoint with his face covered, after officers climbed over a barbed wire wall to surprise the alleged shooter from the back of the 11-flat building

Dutch counter terrorism police prepare to enter a house after the shooting incident

The city was put into lockdown after the shooting which authorities initially said was an apparent terrorist attack, with schools told to shut their doors and paramilitary police increasing security at airports and mosques.

Following Tanis' arrest the National Counter-Terrorism Agency 'reduced the threat level for the province of Utrecht to level four. This brings the threat level for the Netherlands as a whole back to four,' the head of the Dutch counter-terrorism agency Pieter-Jaap Aalbersberg said.

Meanwhile, the father of the suspect has said his son should be punished if he's to blame.

Mehmet Tanis, Gokmen Tanis' father who lives in Turkey's central Kayseri province, told the private Demiroren news agency that he hadn't spoken to his son in 11 years, but added 'if he did it, he should pay the penalty.'

Justice minister Ferd Grapperhaus said the attacker 'was known' to authorities, but did not provide further details.

This comes after several Dutch newspapers, including Algemeen Dagblad, reported that Tanis had been due in court on March 4 in connection with a rape case, accused of sexually assaulting his victim several times, and threatening to burn down her home.

Video and photos from Utrecht shows armed anti-terrorism police surrounding a building where the gunman, or potentially several gunmen, was believed to be located

Several photographs show armed police officers surrounding a building in Utrecht just hours after the assailant fled the scene

Special Police Forces inspect the tram where the shooting took place earlier on Monday as the perpetrator remains at large

In 2013, he was suspected of attempted manslaughter by 'opening fire on a flat', and in recent years had been accused of committing burglary, shoplifting, drink-driving and assaulting a police officer by spitting them in the face.

The gunman, believed to be Tanis, fled the scene of the shooting in a stolen red Renault Clio, which has since been found abandoned in Utrecht, Holland's fourth largest city with a population of around 340,000.

Police in Utrecht had initially reported the number of wounded as nine, this was however reduced to five in a tweet on Monday afternoon, which did not give a reason for changing the number.

Heavily armed police gathered in front of an apartment block some 200 yards from the scene for several hours and footage from outside the building showed officers preparing specially trained dogs and deploying a robot as they seemingly got ready to move in on the apartment block.

At least three people died and a number of people were injured in the shooting on a tram in Utrecht, The Netherlands

Incident: This map shows the location of the shooting in the city of Utrecht, south of Amsterdam

Advice to all citizens in Utrecht to remain indoors, was lifted at 4.30pm local time by the city's mayor. It is not known if the previous instructions to schools in Utrecht to keep their doors closed had been lifted, although train traffic has now reportedly resumed.

Earlier in the day, the head of the Dutch counter-terrorism agency Pieter-Jaap Aalbersberg said in a statement that the 'threat level has gone to five, exclusively for the Utrecht province,' referring to the highest level, adding that the shooting 'appears to be a terrorist attack'.

'A terror motive cannot be excluded,' he said in a Twitter message. He called on citizens to closely follow the indications of the local police.

Prime Minister Mark Rutte convened crisis talks, saying he was deeply concerned about the incident, which came three days after a lone gunman killed 50 people in mass shootings at two mosques in the city of Christchurch, New Zealand.

Mr Rutte said: 'Our nation was hit by an attack in Utrecht. It is clear there were shots on tram passengers in Utrecht, that there are wounded.'

Dutch counter terrorism police use a robot as they prepare to enter an apartment block after a shooting incident in Utrecht, Netherlands, just a few hundred yards from the scene of the attack

Safety first: The black labrador

Reporting for duty: The black labrador and the police officer are seen outside the apartment block on Monday afternoon after gearing up

A photo shared on social media shows an armed policeman surrounding a building in Utrecht during the manhunt

Video footage shows police surrounding an apartment block in Utrecht a few hours after the shooting took place

Dutch military police were ordered to be on 'extra alert' at Dutch airports and 'vital buildings' due to the ongoing police manhunt earlier today.

The first casualty was reported by the Dutch ANP news agency, which stated that the victim was completely covered with a sheet and lying on the tracks between two carriages.

One witness told NOS News they had seen an injured person running out of the tram with blood on her hands and clothes who then fell to the ground.

'I brought her into my car and helped her. When the police arrived, she was unconscious,' the witness, who was not named, told the broadcaster.

Video footage filmed just hours after the shooting shows heavily armed anti-terror officers in front of an apartment block some 200 yards from the scene the shooting

Dozens of heavily armed police officers were seen near the building

Dutch police searched for the shooter 'with all possible means' earlier today

All tram traffic in the city had been shut down in the wake of the shooting on a tram, pictured, this morning

Emergency services stand at the 24 Oktoberplein in Utrecht, the Netherlands, where the shooting took place

Police could be seen amassing some 200 yards from the site of a shooting in Utrecht, Netherlands

Local resident Jimmy De Koster also witnessed the incident and told De Telegraaf: 'I was standing at the traffic lights on 24 Oktoberplein and I saw a woman lying down, I think she would have been between 20 and 35 years old.

'She shouted 'I didn't do anything'. At that time I heard 'bang, bang, bang', three times.'

'It's frightening that something like this can happen so close to home,' said Omar Rahhou, who said his parents lived on a street cordoned off by police. 'These things normally happen far away but this brings it very close, awful.'

The Utrecht police said a square at a tram station outside the city centre had been cordoned off as emergency services attend the scene. Officials added that trauma helicopters were sent to the incident at 24 Oktoberplein.

Armed police at the scene where a shooting took place, as police say they are considering a terrorist motive

Ambulances are seen next to the tram where the shooting took place on Monday morning, at around 10.45am local time

Emergency services at the 24 Oktoberplace where a shooting took place in Utrecht

British Foreign Secretary Jeremy Hunt tweeted his concern in the wake of the incident, saying the UK 'stands with the people of the Netherlands'.

'Hugely concerning news of a gunman opening fire on a tram in Utrecht, no doubt with innocent people just getting on with their day,' Mr Hunt wrote.

'We are in contact with Dutch authorities, urgently seeking further information. The UK stands with the people of the Netherlands.'

All major political parties including Rutte's VVD announced that they were suspending campaigning ahead of Wednesday's local elections which will determine the make-up of the Dutch senate.

Emergency services attend the scene of a shooting in Utrecht

Police forces and emergency services stand at the 24 Oktoberplein as local media reported that counter-terrorism police was present at the scene

Members of the military police arrive to heighten security around the Binnenhof in The Hague, as security was increased at key sites across The Netherlands in the wake of the shooting

Hugely concerning news of a gunman opening fire on a tram in Utrecht, no doubt with innocent people just getting on with their day. We are in contact with Dutch authorities, urgently seeking further information. The UK stands with the people of the Netherlands — Jeremy Hunt (@Jeremy_Hunt) March 18, 2019

The Netherlands has been largely spared the kind of attacks which have rocked its closest European neighbours in the past few years, but there has been a series of recent scares.

In August, a 19-year-old Afghan with a German residence permit stabbed and injured two American tourists at Amsterdam's busy Central Station before being shot and wounded.

In September, Dutch investigators said they had arrested seven people and foiled a 'major attack' on civilians at a major event in the Netherlands.

They said they had found a large quantity of bomb-making materials including fertiliser likely to be used in a car bomb. The men were arrested in the cities of Arnhem and Weert.

In June, two terror suspects were arrested while close to carrying out attacks including at an iconic bridge in Rotterdam and in France, prosecutors said.

The men aged 22 and 28, who were of Moroccan origin, made a film at the Erasmus bridge in which they sang a martyrdom song, they said.