Man wielding fake gun at Dutch news broadcaster studio arrested

A 19 year old man from Pijnacker (near The Hague) who gained access to the studio of Dutch broadcaster NOS, and brandished a fake gun in the building, has been arrested and detectives are now trying to glean the motives for the attack.

The disruption caused the main evening news bulletin to be cancelled and the evacuation of the building in the Media Park in the city of Hilversum.

The man was dressed in a suit, and allegedly wandered into the studio with the fake weapon demanding air time, only to drop the weapon the moment that armed police stormed the studio.

Officials said that the man is being held in custody on suspicion of making a threat, weapons possession and taking a hostage.

Police subsequently combed the building, declaring it safe shortly after 22:00, and Justice and Safety Minister Ivo Opstelten said that it appeared that the man had been acting on his own.

Dutch media reported that he was believed to be a student at a technical university and had recently lost his parents. The NOS footage shows him saying: "The things that are going to be said [pause] - those are very large world affairs. We were hired by the security service."

A threatening letter the man allegedly gave to staff, warning of bomb and cyber attacks if he was prevented from going on air, has been published on the NOS website (in Dutch).

AP news agency reports that a reporter who spoke to him said he had claimed to be from a "hackers' collective”