Gokmen Tanis. – Anna Van Densky blog

Antonio Tajani, the president of the European Parliament expressed his solidarity with the families and victims of the Utrecht shooting, naming it “violence“, however without references to terrorism. (Image: Utrecht, The Netherlands).

I stand by the families of the victims of the Utrecht shooting and the Dutch authorities. Europe must be united in the face of violence and attacks on our citizens.

— Antonio Tajani (@EP_President) March 18, 2019

Manfred Weber (Germany, EPP) the leader of the European People’s Party, and the candidate for the position of the European Commission president, also avoided to mention terrorist trace.

Shocking news from the #Netherlands. Our thoughts are with the people of #Utrecht, with the families of the victims and the wounded. We stand by the Dutch people and the authorities in these challenging times.

— Manfred Weber (@ManfredWeber) March 18, 2019

Guy Verhofstadt, the leader of the European Parliament Liberals (Belgium, ALDE), expressed his intention to “defeat hatred” by standing “strong together and defending our values”, without mentioning radical Islamic terrorism.

Thoughts with the people of #Utrecht, the Netherlands and the victims' families. We will defeat hatred by standing strong together and defending our values. https://t.co/ra43L0uEMu

— Guy Verhofstadt (@guyverhofstadt) March 18, 2019

Meanwhile the manhunt is on the way in Utrecht, the Turkish born assailant is at large, leaving behind three dead and five wounded. There are strong indications of terrorist attack, Dutch police claims.

Manhunt underway in #Utrecht after one reported dead in tram shooting#NetherlandsShooting pic.twitter.com/D1tp44qd6e

— Ruptly (@Ruptly) March 18, 2019

The police asks you to look out for the 37 year old Gökman Tanis (born in Turkey) associated with the incident this morning at the #24oktoberplein in #Utrecht.

Correction: The name is spelled "Gökmen Tanis". https://t.co/t7iXZZkGFd

— Politie Utrecht (@PolitieUtrecht) March 18, 2019

Do not approach Gökman Tanis but call 0800-6070

Three people were killed and nine others injured in a shooting in a tram in Dutch University city of #Utrecht, the mayor said, Dutch broadcaster NOS reported.

Burgemeester Utrecht: drie doden en negen gewonden bij aanslag, volg ons liveblog https://t.co/CvMXhwDuJ3

— NOS (@NOS) March 18, 2019

Police said they were looking for a 37-year-old man of Turkish origin identified as Gokmen Tanis.

Three dead, nine injured in Utrecht shooting: mayor https://t.co/vicKwsks0n pic.twitter.com/r1csRn3kOv

— Reuters Top News (@Reuters) March 18, 2019

Jean-Claude Juncker, the president of the European Commission expressed his solidarity with Dutch people during this difficult times in a telephone conversation with Prime minister Mark Rutte.

I have just spoken with @markrutte to get an update of the situation in #Utrecht. The #EU stands side by side with the #Netherlands and its people during these difficult times. My thoughts are with the wounded and their families.

— Jean-Claude Juncker (@JunckerEU) March 18, 2019

AMENDED: Five injured, but not nine, Utrecht police informed via Twitter micro blog.