San Francisco: A hostage situation at Apple Inc.’s flagship retail store in Amsterdam ended with a suspect in custody, according to a statement from the city’s police department.
“We can confirm that the hostage-taker is out of the Apple Store,” police said in a statement on Twitter. “The hostage is safe.”
Earlier Tuesday, several Twitter accounts showed footage of police amassed outside the Apple store at the bustling Leidseplein square, in addition to a man holding another man at gunpoint inside the store. The police had said during the incident that officers had been dispatched due to “someone with a firearm” at the Apple store. The department also said earlier it was reluctant to provide further information that might disrupt the police action and investigation.
Other videos showed police speaking over megaphones to people in the store and other officers stationed outside with weapons. A local live stream of the incident showed the area surrounding the Apple store taped off and police searching nearby cars. It’s unclear what prompted the hostage situation, but some local reports speculated that it came after a robbery attempt.
Local police said later Tuesday that dozens of people in the Apple store during the incident had been gathered to provide witness statements. Police also urged “everyone with a view of the property not to publish or stream images.”
A spokesperson for Cupertino, California-based Apple didn’t respond to requests for comment. A number of Apple retail stores around the world have faced smash-and-grab robberies in the past, targeted at pricey iPhones, iPads and Mac computers. – Bloomberg
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