Dutch cops nab man in three slays

A gunman is in custody after cops say he killed three people and wounded five others on a tram in the Dutch city of Utrecht on Monday.

A Dutch counterterror office had raised the threat level to maximum in the province before the suspect, believed to be Gökmen Tanis, was apprehended.

Turkey’s state-run Anadolu news agency, quoting relatives of Tanis, said he fired at a family member on the tram and then shot at others who tried to help her.

“The first thing I thought was, this is some kind of revenge or something, or somebody who’s really mad and grabbed a pistol,” witness Daan Molenaar, who was on the tram, told Dutch broadcaster NOS.

Cops in Utrecht had previously released a photo of the 37-year-old Tanis, a native of Turkey. Police had surrounded a building where he was believed to be holed up.

Mayor Jan van Zanen said that three of the injuries were serious. Cops flooded the area after the shooting happened in the morning at a busy intersection in a residential neighborhood.

Tanis was known to police for both minor and major crimes, including a shooting in 2013, according to RTV.

Investigators say there was a carjacking before the shooting, and the vehicle was found later in the city.

Police spokesman Bernhard Jens did not rule out the possibility that more than one shooter was involved in the attack.

Schools and and other vital infrastructure were closed, and security was tightened at nearby airports. Security was also stepped up at mosques in the area.

The shooting comes three days after a gunman killed 50 people at two mosques in Christchurch, New Zealand. There did not immediately appear to be a connection between the two attacks.

NYPD Commissioner James O’Neill said the department is “closely monitoring” the shooting. He added that there does not seem to be a link to New York City, but asks residents to “remain alert.”