Utrecht tram shooting suspect has confessed, police say

The main suspect in the Utrecht tram shooting that left three people dead has confessed to the attack, prosecutors have said.

Gokmen Tanis told investigators he was acting alone during Monday’s incident, which saw the Dutch city go into lockdown.

The attack is being investigated as terror related although, in its statement, the public prosecutor's office declined to offer any light on the 37-year-old’s motives.

“The suspect this morning confessed the criminal acts he is charged with," it said following a closed hearing on Friday.

Tanis, an Utrecht resident with a long criminal record, was arrested hours after the shooting and was held on charges including multiple murder or manslaughter with terrorist intent. He did not know any of those who were killed – which included a teenage girl.

Investigators say that a note found in a getaway car also indicates an extremist motive.

They have asked a forensic psychiatry and psychology institute to carry out a personality test on him.

A 40-year-old man who was detained a day after the shooting because Tanis was arrested at his home has been released without charge after no evidence was found that he helped in the shooting, prosecutors said.

The confession comes as mourners prepared on Friday for a silent march through Utrecht to remember the attack's victims, which included a 19-year-old woman from the town of Vianen and men aged 28 and 49, both from Utrecht.

Prime minister Mark Rutte and the mayors of the Netherlands' four biggest cities will take part in the show of solidarity.