Awwal 05, 1432 / April 09, 2011, SPA -- A man armed with a machine gun opened fire at random in a shopping centre in the Netherlands on Saturday, killing five people before turning the weapon on himself. More than 10 people were wounded in the shooting in the town of Alphen aan den Rijn, around 40 kilometres south of Amsterdam, dpa reported. The motives of the man, who was described by witnesses as "tall, blond and blue-eyed," and who shot himself in the head after the attack, remained unclear, police said. "We're investigating all possibilities," police said. Four of the wounded were in a life-threatening condition, while five were in a moderate to severe condition, town mayor Bas Eenhoorn said. The man had been "outwardly calm" when he first entered the De Ridderhof shopping centre, he added. "We offer our sympathy to all those who were wounded and to the families of the victims' of this incomprehensible attack on a day which began so full of sunshine," the mayor said. Another shooting, in which two people were killed, took place in the same town just under a month ago, according to the mayor. But whether that had anything to do with Saturday's incident would only become clear after the police investigation, Eenhorn said. "It has been a terrible shock for us all."
