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The Latest on the tram attack in Utrecht, the Netherlands (all times local):

11:50 a.m.

Dutch prosecutors say they are taking seriously the possibility that a man suspected of killing three people and seriously wounding three more in a shooting on a tram in Utrecht had a terrorist motive.

In a statement Tuesday, prosecutors say the nature of the attack and a note found in a getaway car give them reasons to consider terrorism as a motive. They say other possible motives also are being investigated.

The prosecutors also say that investigations so far do not indicate that the main suspect, a 37-year-old man of Turkish descent who was arrested hours after Monday's attack, knew any of the victims.

Prosecutors say a weapon was recovered when he was arrested.

The statement says that three people were seriously wounded in the shooting and four more suffered light injuries.

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9:15 a.m.

Dutch police say they have arrested a third person on suspicion of involvement in the tram shooting in the city of Utrecht that left three people dead and five injured.

Public prosecution office spokesman Ties Kortmann said Tuesday that three people are now in custody — the alleged shooter, 37-year-old Gokmen Tanis and two others who were also arrested on suspicion of involvement in the shooting Monday morning.

Kortmann says Tanis is being held on suspicion of manslaughter with a possible terrorist motive, but adds that investigations are continuing into what drove him to allegedly open fire in a tram.

Authorities say they have not ruled out other possible motives and Dutch media citing his neighbors in Utrecht have speculated that the shooting may have been linked to a relationship.</s>Dutch police name 37-year-old Turkish-born man as linked to tram shooting in Utrecht

UTRECHT, Netherlands (AP) — Dutch police name 37-year-old Turkish-born man as linked to tram shooting in Utrecht.</s>A man has been arrested on Monday after a shooting on a tram that killed three people and injured five in the Dutch city of Utrecht.

Turkish national Gökmen Tanis, 37, has been detained by police in connection with the attack.</s>UTRECHT, Netherlands (Reuters) - Dutch police said on Monday they were looking for a 37-year-old Turkish man in connection with a shooting that is believed to have left at least one person dead.

“The police ask you to watch out for 37-year-old Gokman Tanis (born in Turkey) in connection with this morning’s incident,” a police statement said.</s>Authorities in the Netherlands have arrested a suspect involved in a shooting that killed three people and injured five others in a tram in the central Dutch city of Utrecht on Monday morning.

Utrecht police identified the suspect in the shooting as Gökmen Tanis, a 37-year-old man who was born in Turkey. The shooting prompted a manhunt in the city and authorities said they were considering all motives, including terrorism.

During a press conference on Monday, Utrecht Mayor Jan van Zanen said they were still searching for the suspect.

However, at the end of the press conference, authorities were informed that the "main suspect" involved in the shooting had been detained. Police confirmed that that the suspect was Tanis.</s>UTRECHT, Netherlands (Reuters) - Dutch police arrested a Turkish man suspected of shooting dead three people and wounding five on a tram in the Dutch city of Utrecht on Monday.

Police said the suspect, 37-year-old Gokmen Tanis, had been taken into custody after an hours-long manhunt and had earlier run-ins with authorities in the Netherlands.

The city was put into lockdown after the shooting, shortly after the morning rush hour, which authorities initially said was an apparent terrorist attack. Police conducted raids in several locations after issuing an image of Tanis and warning the public not to approach him.

But hours after the shooting, the gunman’s motive remained unclear. A prosecutor said it could be for “family reasons” and Turkey’s state-run Anadolu news agency, quoting relatives of the gunman, said he had fired at a relative on the tram and had then shot at others who tried to help her.

The Turkish intelligence agency said it is investigating whether the attack was personally motivated or an act of terrorism, President Tayyip Erdogan said.

Earlier on Wednesday, Dutch authorities had raised the terrorism threat in Utrecht province to its highest level, schools were told to shut their doors and paramilitary police increased security at airports, other vital infrastructure and at mosques.

The threat level was reduced by one notch to where it had been after the suspect was arrested, the National Counter-Terrorism Agency said.

Dutch Prime Minister Mark Rutte convened crisis talks immediately after the incident, which came three days after a lone gunman killed 50 people in mass shootings at two mosques in the city of Christchurch, New Zealand.

“Our country has today been shocked by an attack in Utrecht... A terrorist motive cannot be excluded,” Rutte said. “The first reports have led to disbelief and disgust. Innocent people have been struck by violence.”

The mayor of Utrecht, Jan van Zanen, said three people had been killed and five injured, three of them critically.

The suspect had previously been arrested, regional prosecutor Rutger Jeuken told reporters, without giving further details.

The shooting took place in Kanaleneiland, a quiet residential district on the outskirts of Utrecht with a large immigrant population.

“It’s frightening that something like this can happen so close to home,” said Omar Rahhou, who said his parents lived on a street cordoned off by police. “These things normally happen far away but this brings it very close, awful.”

Witness Daan Molenaar, who said he had been sitting at the front of the tram when the shooting started, told national broadcaster NOS he did not believe it was a terrorist attack.

“The first thing I thought was, this is some kind of revenge or something, or somebody who’s really mad and grabbed a pistol,” he said.

Utrecht, the Netherlands’ fourth largest city with a population of around 340,000, is known for its picturesque canals and large student population. Gun killings are rare in Utrecht, as elsewhere in the Netherlands.</s>The 37-year-old Turkish suspect in the deadly shooting on a tram in the Netherlands has been arrested, Utrecht's police chief has confirmed.

Gökmen Tanis was arrested after a major manhunt following the shooting which authorities have confirmed killed three people and injured nine more. The terror threat level for Utrecht was reduced after the suspect's arrest.

A police spokesperson said Tanis was arrested on Oudenoord street near where a red Renault Clio which he was believed to have been driving was found.

The attack prompted Dutch police to be put on high alert, with military police sent to national airports, railways stations and major roads as citizens were advised to stay indoors. Schools were also closed while the hunt was underway.

Dutch Prime Minister Rutte said during a press conference that the suspect's motive is still unclear and that there are “many questions and rumors.” Earlier the Dutch counter-terror agency said it appears to be a terror attack.

Utrecht police had warned citizens to watch out for Tanis but not to approach him. Sources told BBC Turkish that the 37-year-old had previously been arrested over “suspected links” to Islamic State (IS, formerly ISIS) a few years ago, but was later released.

Following the attack, Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan said that the Turkish intelligence agency is investigating whether it was linked to terror or "personally motivated."

to RT newsletter to get stories the mainstream media won’t tell you.</s>UTRECHT, Netherlands (Reuters) - Dutch security forces were hunting for a 37-year-old Turkish man suspected of having shot several people, one of them possibly fatally, on a tram in the city of Utrecht on Monday, in what authorities said appeared to be a terrorist attack.

Authorities raised the terrorism threat to its highest level in Utrecht province, schools were told to shut their doors and paramilitary police increased security at airports and other vital infrastructure, and also at mosques.

Dutch Prime Minister Mark Rutte convened crisis talks, saying he was deeply concerned about the incident, which came three days after a lone gunman killed 50 people in mass shootings at two mosques in the city of Christchurch, New Zealand.

“The police asks you to watch out for 37-year-old Gokman Tanis (born in Turkey) in connection with this morning’s incident,” Dutch police said in a statement.

They issued an image of the man and warned the public not to approach him. They gave no further details.

Earlier, the head of Dutch counter-terrorism said shots had been fired at several locations, without elaborating. Counter-terrorism units surrounded a house in Utrecht, Dutch television showed, but no one appeared to have been arrested.

“A lot is still unclear at this point and local authorities are working hard to establish all the facts. What we already know is that a culprit is at large,” Counter-Terrorism Agency head Pieter-Jaap Aalbersberg told a news conference.

Aalbersberg, who said the shooting “appears to be a terrorist attack”, declined to comment on the number of injured or on their condition and did not confirm any deaths.

Local broadcaster RTV Utrecht quoted a witness of the tram incident as saying he had seen a woman lying on the ground amid some kind of confrontation and several men running away from the scene.

A reporter for Dutch broadcaster NOS said a white sheet had been placed over a body near the tram where the shooting had taken place.

Utrecht, the Netherlands’ fourth largest city with a population of around 340,000, is known for its picturesque canals and large student population. Gun killings are rare in Utrecht, as elsewhere in the Netherlands.

Police said the tram station stop in a square outside the city center had been cordoned off. Emergency services were at the scene.</s>Netherlands prosecutors on Tuesday said they were seriously considering terrorism as a motive behind a shooting on a tram in the central city of Utrecht that claimed the lives of three people and left three others seriously injured but have ruled out any relations between the alleged attacker and the victims.

Police have detained a 37-year-old Turkish-born man suspected of opening fire on passengers aboard the tram on Monday morning at 24 Oktoberplein, a busy junction underneath a highway bridge to the west of the Utrecht city center.</s>UTRECHT, Netherlands (Reuters) - Dutch police arrested a Turkish man suspected of shooting dead three people and wounding five on a tram in the Dutch city of Utrecht on Monday.

Utrecht police announced the suspect, 37-year-old Gokmen Tanis, had been taken into custody.

The city was put into lockdown after the shooting, shortly after the morning rush hour, which authorities initially said was an apparent terrorist attack. Police conducted raids in several locations.

But hours after the shooting, the gunman's motive remained unclear. A prosecutor said it could be for "family reasons" and Turkey's state-run Anadolu news agency, quoting relatives of the gunman, said he had fired at a relative on the tram and had then shot at others who tried to help her.

Helicopters hovered over the usually quiet mediaeval town.

Authorities had raised the terrorism threat in Utrecht province to its highest level, schools were told to shut their doors and paramilitary police increased security at airports, other vital infrastructure and at mosques.

Dutch Prime Minister Mark Rutte convened crisis talks immediately after the incident, which came three days after a lone gunman killed 50 people in mass shootings at two mosques in the city of Christchurch, New Zealand.

"Our country has today been shocked by an attack in Utrecht... A terrorist motive cannot be excluded," Rutte said.

"The first reports have led to disbelief and disgust. Innocent people have been struck by violence... We are now doing everything we can to find the perpetrator or perpetrators as soon as possible. That is now our complete focus."

The mayor of Utrecht, Jan van Zanen, said three people had been killed and nine injured, three of them seriously. The number of injured was later lowered to five.

Dutch police issued an image of Tanis and warned the public not to approach him.

The suspect had had previous run-ins with police, the prosecutor said. Local broadcaster RTV Utrecht said earlier the suspect was known to police for both minor and major crimes, including a shooting in 2013.

The shooting took place in Kanaleneiland, a quiet residential district on the outskirts of Utrecht with a large immigrant population.

"It’s frightening that something like this can happen so close to home," said Omar Rahhou, who said his parents lived on a street cordoned off by police. "These things normally happen far away but this brings it very close, awful."

Witness Daan Molenaar, who said he had been sitting at the front of the tram when the shooting started, told national broadcaster NOS he did not believe it was a terrorist attack.

"The first thing I thought was, this is some kind of revenge or something, or somebody who's really mad and grabbed a pistol," he said.

The streets of Utrecht were emptier than usual and mosques in the city kept their doors closed on Monday. Police screened off the site where at least one body lay covered near the tram.

Dutch television showed counter-terrorism units surrounding a house in Utrecht and sniffer dogs being put to work.

Utrecht, the Netherlands' fourth largest city with a population of around 340,000, is known for its picturesque canals and large student population. Gun killings are rare in Utrecht, as elsewhere in the Netherlands.

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A man opens fire in a tram in the city of Utrecht, Netherlands, killing three people and injuring nine others, before fleeing. Terrorism is suspected by authorities. A 37-year-old Turkish man is arrested.