Utrecht shooter to be charged with 'terrorist' killings

Gokmen Tanis will appear in court tomorrow

People cry after laying flowers at a makeshift memorial site for the victims of a shooting incident in a tram in Utrecht, Netherlands. AP

The gunman suspected of killing three people and injuring nine in Utrecht on Monday will be charged for "terrorist" killings, the prosecutor in the case said on Thursday. Turkish born Gokmen Tanis, the 37-year-old man arrested after an armed stand-off, is reportedly accused of having left a note in the car he used to escape the scene pointing to a possible terrorist motive.

"The 37-year-old suspect will appear before a judge on Friday, charged with multiple murders with terrorist aims, as well as attempted murder and a terrorist threat," the public prosecution service said in a statement on Thursday, but said there may be additional motive.

"We are investigating whether the suspect acted solely from a terrorist motive, or whether his actions came out of personal problems in combination with a radicalised ideology."

Tanis will appear in court tomorrow for a judge to extend his detention.

Tanis opened fire on a tram in a residential neighbourhood on Monday morning, sparking an hours-long manhunt.

The victims were identified as a 19-year-old woman and two men, aged 28 and 49, and all were from Utrecht.

Tanis, who was born in Turkey, was arrested alongside two others on Monday, following a dramatic manhunt in the Dutch city.

He had appeared in court days earlier to answer a charge of rape and some media speculated the killings could have been linked to a domestic dispute.

Dutch authorities say the Utrecht suspect will also undergo psychiatric evaluation to assess his mental health,