Dutch police arrest suspect over schools threat

A DISGRUNTLED former pupil expelled from an elite British school in Holland was under arrest last night after making an internet posting in which he threatened a massacre of students and a teacher.

The unnamed individual was expelled from the British School – one of four institutions based in and around The Hague with a curriculum entirely in English geared towards the children of diplomatic, industrial and government employees – in 2011.

On Saturday night, he posted an anonymous threat on internet chat room 4chan in English: “Tomorrow, I will shoot my Dutch teacher, and as many students as I can. It will be on the news tomorrow. It’s a school in a Dutch city called Leiden and for more proof, I will be using a 9mm Colt Defender. I will be carrying a note with me when I go into the school which will explain why I did it.”

With Dutch schools shut on Sunday, authorities presume he got his days mixed up.

Intercepted by the authorities after a tip-off, the message led to a shutdown of all schools in Leiden while the hunt for the potential gunman continued. The arrest came shortly after midday, but no details on his identity or nationality have yet emerged.

The school confirmed the expulsion happened in October 2011 after a series of “incidents” but did not elaborate.

Police said a user of the chat room in the Swiss city of Zurich alerted police there after seeing the message. They in turn contacted Leiden police.

Leiden mayor Henri Lakshmi said: “It was a devil’s dilemma to shut the school because the authorities did not know which school was targeted and so could take no preventative measures.

“This decision had a great affect on society, but it was the right thing to do.”