Roundup: Police arrest armed man who enters Dutch TV studio

A man with a gun entered a studio of Dutch national broadcaster NOS in Hilversum on Thursday and was arrested shortly afterwards.

The armed man entered the building after taking hostage a security guard. He had a letter with demands and ordered the guard to lead him to a TV studio, where he was eventually arrested shortly after 8:00 p.m. (1900 GMT)

The man, who was dressed in a black suit with a tie, demanded air time just before the NOS eight o'clock news on TV. It is not clear what the man wanted to do with the airtime, because he was arrested before he could clearly explain his intentions.

"It's great big world issues that we want to bring out," he told his hostage, adding "We are hired by intelligence services."

After his short talk police officers came in and demanded him to drop his gun, which he did. The arrest was taped and later broadcasted on Dutch TV.

The man carried a letter with him, in which was written that eight heavy explosives were placed in the whole country, containing radioactive material. The letter also stated that he was not acting alone and was heavily armed.

He said that he had five companions and 98 hackers were ready for a cyberattack.

Due to the threat the NOS building at the Media Park in Hilversum was cleared and all people inside were evacuated.

The NOS journal of 8:00 p.m. (1900 GMT) didn't go through. NOS broadcasting on the incident resumed after 9:00 p.m (2000 GMT) from The Hague, because the studio's in Hilversum were not accessible.

Following extensive investigation the police gave the signal that the building was safe to enter at 10:15 p.m. (2115 GMT), after which the NOS crew started broadcasting from Hilversum again.

"Everyone is in shock," NOS director Jan de Jong reacted. "My thoughts immediately went back to the attack on Charlie Hebdo in Paris. I am pleased that the people in the newsroom quickly phoned emergency 112 and I am even happier that the police arrested him very quickly."

NOS reporter Martijn Bink was present at the scene and was able to talk to the man after his arrest. "He told me he was part of a hackers collective and had no terrorist motif," Bink told NOS.

During a press conference in Hilversum Johan Bac, head of justice in central Netherlands, explained the suspect is a 19-year-old man from Pijnacker, around 15 km from The Hague.

"He is suspected of deprivation of freedom, threats and possession of weapons," Bac said. "An investigation is started to get more clarity as soon as possible."

"Fortunately there are no victims," mayor Pieter Broertjes added at the press conference. "We were well prepared. After the events in Paris, there was already additional police surveillance and increased attention to the media park. Moreover, we have a special media police team, which was quickly on the spot." Endit