An armed man was arrested afterentering the offices of the Dutch national broadcaster NOS, demanding to beplaced on air, live and without intervention. The man, dressed in a blacksuit and tie, entered the studios in the city of Hilversum, after threatening aguard with a pistol, according to witnesses.
Jan de Jong, directorof NOS broadcaster, later told the microphones of the national radio:"Someone entered the building," adding that the man had, however,been arrested and removed by the Police. De Jong said they had not yet beendetermined which way the man would have passed the tight Security in thebuilding and the editorial offices in Hilversum.
NOS later reported on itswebsite that the man had a pistol with a silencer and he would havethreatened a security guard, forcing him to take him to the editorial offices.The man's motive was clear, but there was no immediate indication that theincident was related to any act of terrorism. The incident took place around20:00 local time, and the station cut transmission for more than anhour, in full prime time. The evening news edition was not broadcasted andinstead was presented a message that stated: "Due to the circumstances,there is no transmission available at the moment."
The police quickly surrounded thebuilding in Hilversum and staff were evacuated, according to the media on site.There were no reports of any shots fired in the building.
The man allegedly hada letter saying, "I'm heavily armed. If you cooperate, nothing will happento you." The man was directed towards an empty studio, where he wasarrested about 10 minutes later and taken away by police.
NOS, in the meantime, released imagesof the attack, in which we see a nervous man, wandering the studio with apistol with a silencer.
After a few minutes, the police come and the man isarrested without resistance.
By the time of this publication there arenot yet known details about the motivation of the attacker and what informationhe intended to convey, if he had been placed on the air.
