Episode Transcript
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Hi and welcome to The Lowest Crime, the podcast where we
explore some of the most devastating and shocking
criminal cases in the Netherlands.
I'm Alina, and today we're looking at a deadly attack that
shook not only the city of Utrecht, but the entire country.
This is the story of the Utrechttram shooting on March 18th,
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2019. In just over 2 minutes, four
people were killed and six others were wounded in a brutal
terrorist attack at the 24 October plane in Utrecht.
The man behind the attack, Gugman Tanes.
Before we get into today's episode, please be aware that
we'll be discussing descriptionsof gun violence, terrorism,
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serious injury, trauma and the death of multiple people, so
listener discretion is advised. And as always, although I try my
very best to bring you all the known facts, I am just an
amateur podcast creator, so there is always a chance of me
making a mistake. It all started with a simple
decision. Elena, a 23 year old biology
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student at the Horsehol Utrecht,had plans that day to work on a
school project with her friends.It was a windy, chilly morning
and normally she would have taken her bike, but that morning
she texted her boyfriend. I'll take the trim instead.
She almost missed it. She had to run to catch it and
out of breath, she boarded. At the back.
She sent another quick message to her boyfriend and that's when
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she heard it. A man at the front of the trim
started yelling Allah Akbar. Her first thought was that he
might blow himself up, but then she saw the weapon.
The man pointed the gun at a young woman.
Alina heard a muffled pop. Panic erupted.
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Screams filled the trim. Alina dove behind a plastic
divider near the door. A woman crouched beside her.
They clung together in silence as the gunshots rang out.
Alina's thoughts were racing. I'm going to die.
The trim's emergency brake had been pulled, and the doors
opened. Without hesitation, Alina
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jumped. She hadn't realized how high it
was, over a meter from the ground, and she landed badly,
twisting her ankle in pain, she began crawling away.
She didn't know that the gunman,Gukmentanis, had exited the trim
and was hanging out the door, weapon raised.
He saw her trying to escape. He aimed and a shot ring, she
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later recalled. I felt a massive impact in my
lower back. I screamed help and raised my
arm to signal someone. I couldn't feel my legs.
Three people rushed to her side.They dragged her behind a parked
car. And then suddenly they were
gone. Confused, terrified and unable
to move, Alina was left alone. She later learned why.
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Tanis was still shooting. He had stepped out of the trem
and was firing at bystanders. The people who had helped her
were forced to flee for their lives.
Tanis walked right past her. He didn't finish her off.
He didn't have to. That one's as good as dead, she
imagined him thinking, and for awhile, she believed it too.
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She was losing blood quickly. Her vision blurred.
She drifted in and out of consciousness, but she fought to
stay awake. I thought of my mum, my sister,
my boyfriend. I can't leave them.
I have to survive. A woman crouched beside her,
keeping her conscious. What's your name?
She asked. What are you studying?
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Someone else tapped her face. Stay with us.
In the distance, Elena heard sirens.
Moments later, paramedics reached her, and then blackness.
Elena didn't know it at the time, but while her body was
being rushed away in an ambulance, the city around her
was thrown into chaos. She lay in a coma for 9 days.
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Doctors worked around the clock.She had lost an immense amount
of blood. The bullet had torn through her
back, graced her spinal cord, and destroyed her spleen.
Her survival was uncertain. The trauma surgeons had done
everything they could as she layin intensive care, hooked up to
tubes and machines. The city outside was just
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learning about what terrible events had happened that day.
At 10:41 AM on that March 18th, 37 year old Gukmentanis had
boarded the rear section of tram61 at 24 October plane in
Utrecht. The tram had just begun its
route toward Utrecht Central Station.
The tram had just barely starteddriving when Gukman opened fire
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on its passengers. His initial attempts failed.
He tried to shoot 2 passengers in the head, but his weapon
misfired both times. Then, in front of other stunned
commuters, he aimed at a third passenger, a woman seated near
him. He fired, hitting her in the
chest as she raised her bag in adesperate attempt to shield
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herself. He fired again.
Within seconds, panic erupted. Passengers screamed, dug and
fled toward the front of the trim.
Several began pushing against the doors, trying to escape.
Tanis kept shooting. He fired at Rinke Terbsta, a 49
year old passenger sitting by the door.
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Terbsta used his laptop bag to protect himself.
He had already pulled the trams emergency brake which brought
the vehicle to a halt. Tanis shot him twice.
Terbsta and other passengers kicked open the front window.
He helped 5 people out through the broken glass.
Then he followed, and as he climbed out, Tanis fired again,
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hitting him fatally in the torso.
There, Strike collapsed outside the trim and died on the street.
Inside, Tani's returned to the woman that he had shot first.
She was still alive. He stood over her and fired
again. One of the rear doors opened,
and passengers rushed to escape.Elena was among them.
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Behind her, a stroller remained stuck in the doorway, left
behind. In a panic, as Elena tried to
crawl away, Tani's leaned out the trim and fired.
And that's when the bullet hit her back.
But the attack wasn't over. Tani stepped fully out of the
tram. He continued firing, this time
on bystanders. One man tried to hide behind a
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car. Tani's aimed at him but didn't
shoot. He fired at a passing vehicle,
injuring the occupant. Then, in the chaos, he spotted
an opportunity and hijacked a red Renault Clio that had been
left running on the America land.
The driver had fled moments earlier on the advice of another
bystander. Leaving the keys inside, Tanis
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speed away. He drove toward the paperland,
where he slowed near a bus stop and fired again, this time
missing his targets. Then he disappeared.
Back at the 24 October plane, emergency services were quick to
arrive. The 1st 112 call had been made
at 10:42 AM, just a minute afterTanis had opened fire.
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Within minutes, 14 ambulances were dispatched, 3 trauma
helicopters were airborne. Utrecht police, fire and
emergency services all convergedon the scene.
The area was cordoned off and paramedics rushed from victim to
victim. Alina was among most severely
injured. Tanis had caused massive damage.
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Official reports confirmed that four people had lost their lives
from the attack and six others were wounded.
Among the fatal victims were Reinke Terbstra, 49, Roche
Verskuer, 19, a 28 year old man from Utrecht and a 74 year old
man from the Mian who would later succumb to his injuries.
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On March 28th at 11 AM, the National Crisis Center received
the first official report of theshooting. 3 minutes later at 11
O3. The threat was internally
classified as a possible terrorist attack.
Utrecht's terror threat level was raised to a level 5, the
highest in Dutch history at the time the city went into
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lockdown. Public transport was suspended.
Schools, government buildings and mosques were closed.
Utrecht's residents were instructed to stay indoors.
The Red Cross activated an online check in platform for
concerned family members. The situation was tense and
confusing. Was this a work of a lone
attacker or were there more? At 12:14 PM, police issued a
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policy alarm, an emergency call to all available units to assist
in locating the suspect. Armed officers were deployed
across the province. Security was increased at train
stations, airports, mosques and synagogues.
But then, shortly before 140 PMAcritical breakthrough came.
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The red Renault Clio was found abandoned on the Tikhalar Slam.
It's engine was still running. Inside, officers discovered a
handwritten note. It's message confirmed what many
feared. Ek do it for my khalov hilimaka
Muslims doat and villons khalov afbaka.
But it's had nick Luka. Allah is killed.
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Roughly translated. I do this for my faith.
You kill Muslims and try to takea religion away but you will not
succeed. Allah is great.
By 2:20 PM, surveillage image taken from inside the trim was
released publicly. The man's face was unmistakable.
37 year old Gugman Tanis. He was already known to police.
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His name and photograph were sent to media outlets and
displayed on television and newswebsites nationwide.
Authorities urged the public to remain calm and avoid spreading
unverified information. That afternoon, three men were
arrested on suspicion of involvement.
Two were picked up after police dogs traced the scent from the
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abandoned car to a nearby home. 1/3 was detained shortly after.
But investigators quickly realized that the only suspect
here was Tanis. And they were right.
At 6:18 PM, police tracked Tanisthrough his mobile banking
activity. He had logged into his account
using a new device. Authorities triangulated the
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signal and raided an apartment on the outer Nord.
And there he was. He surrendered without a fight.
By 6:29 PM, police confirmed thenews.
The suspect was in custody. When Elena opened her eyes 9
days later, she was surrounded by machines and tubes.
She had survived, but just barely.
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The bullet had shredded her spleen, and doctors feared that
she might not make it through surgery.
She had received 11 liters of blood.
Her spinal cord had been grazed,leaving her with an incomplete
spinal injury, a form of partialparalysis.
No one knew she would ever walk again.
The emotional impact hit just ashard.
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Elena, once an active independent university student
who exercised 4 times a week, now found herself dependent on
others for basic care. In the hospital, she suffered
from panic attacks so intense that she had to be physically
restrained. She lived in fear that Tanis
would return to finish what he started.
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Her recovery was painful physically, mentally, and
emotionally. Still, against all odds, she
fought her way back. She began with a wheelchair,
then a Walker, then crutches, and then, slowly and painfully,
she learned to stand again. Her body recovered faster than
expected, her mind took longer, but by the end of the year she
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was back at university, determined not to let Tanis
define her life. While Alina tried to rebuild her
future, the Dutch justice systembegan holding Tanis accountable
for his crimes. Gugman Tanis was no stranger to
the authorities. Born in Turkey and raised in the
Uttar neighborhood of Kanala Island, he had a long history of
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instability, drug addiction and violent behaviour.
Locals knew him as the Road the Turk, the Red Turk for his
striking hair colour but also for his erratic presence in the
neighborhood. His criminal records stretch
back years theft, assault, vandalism, firing a gun at a
residential building and even a rape charge in 2017.
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In that specific case, Tanis hadinitially been jailed, released
under strict conditions, and then re arrested after violating
the terms. Yet just 17 days before the tram
attack, an appeals court released him once more, despite
his refusal to undergo psychiatric evaluation or
cooperate with probation services.
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At the time of the shooting, he was facing eviction and had
multiple unpaid fines. Though he claimed to act in the
name of religion, there was no consistent evidence of
radicalization, only growing isolation, instability in the
history of lashing out violently.
For the Utrecht attack, Tanis was charged with four counts of
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murder or manslaughter with terrorist intent, along with
multiple counts of attempted murder.
He refused to cooperate in court.
He showed no remorse. He spat at his own lawyer.
He interrupted victim statements.
He laughed, shouted and refused to answer questions.
For the families watching from the gallery, his contempt only
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deepened their wounds. Psychiatric experts from the
Peter Bond Syndrome described Chinese as narcissistic,
antisocial and of low intelligence, but fully
accountable for his actions. He was not delusional.
He knew exactly what he was doing.
In March of 2020, nearly a year after the attack, the verdict
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came. Gukman Tanis was found guilty on
all counts and sentenced to lifein prison without the
possibility of parole, the harshest sentence available
under Dutch law. For survivors like Alina, it
brought some closure, but not peace.
In her victim statement in court, she said the Alina of
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March 17th is not the Alina who stands before you today.
But one thing is certain, Gukman.
You did not defeat me and you never will.
Her words in court were clear and unwavering.
She spoke not only for herself, but for the many people whose
lives have been changed by that day.
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Outside the courtroom, the city of Utrecht carried on, but not
unchanged. The attack left a deep mark on
the community. In the days and weeks that
followed, residents gathered at the 24 October plan to lay
flowers, light candles and support one another.
For survivors, healing took time.
For some, that meant physical rehabilitation.
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For others, it meant navigating trauma, loss and long term
uncertainty. Elena worked hard to return to
her studies, relearn how to walkand regain a sense of control
over her life. Even now, the effects are still
present. She continues to live with
physical limitations and mental health challenges, but luckily,
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she's also been able to resume many parts of her life studying,
spending time with loved ones, and slowly building towards the
future. And that's where we'll leave it
for today. If you found this an interesting
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to the case on the lowest Crime Instagram account.
Thank you all so much for listening and I look forward to
seeing you in the next one.