There was great shock when reports of a shooting at Erasmus MC went public on Thursday afternoon, 28 September. Suspect Fouad L. fatally shot medicine teacher Jurgen Damen and set fire to the Education Centre. It also appears that before that, the suspect shot his neighbour and her daughter. The neighbour died on the spot, her daughter later in hospital.
The teacher who died in the shooting was Jurgen Damen, who taught the Clinical Skills Practicum. A memorial was set up for him at Erasmus MC.
A day after the shooting, it was revealed that the suspected shooter was a 32-year-old Erasmus University medical student. He was due to receive his degree, but had yet to undergo psychological tests after the public prosecutor warned the faculty about ‘worrying behaviour’.
Following the incident, teaching was temporarily suspended. Erasmus MC’s teaching buildings were also no longer usable due to the fire and police investigation.
The Erasmus MC board suspects that Fouad L. targeted the examination board with his attack, according to a press statement. L. was not awarded his medicine degree because he failed an aptitude test by a psychologist. However, the teacher Jurgen Damen, who was shot dead, was not a member of the examination committee.
A week after the attack, a minute’s silence will be held at both Erasmus MC and Campus Woudestein.
Three medical students who were present during the shooting at Erasmus MC tell how they experienced the attack. “We had accepted that we would die.”
Teaching will resume at Erasmus MC six days after the attack. Many locations in the Education Centre will not be usable by then.
For staff and students at Erasmus MC, the attack is a very severe blow. Many are afraid to go to the hospital again. With a buddy programme, students try to guide each other through this.
A month after the attack, work is underway to restore the education center to good condition. There is mainly water and fire damage.
The trial against Fouad L. begins in January at the Rotterdam District Court. The accused himself will not be present at the first hearing.
The Pieter Baan Centrum wants to investigate suspect Fouad L. longer. The public prosecutor said this during the second pro forma hearing in the trial of the attack on 28 September in Rotterdam. This request rarely occurs.
Fouad L. was very calculating, concludes a new report commissioned by mayor Aboutaleb. After showing ‘worrisome behaviour’, the medical student seemingly behaved in a cooperative manner, but this turned out to be a deliberate avoidance of care. Authorities did not see the outburst of violence like the one on 28 September coming.
Fouad L. has told the police that he carried out his crimes consciously and deliberately. The public prosecutor told the third pre-trial hearing in the case against the medical student that L. wanted the officers to record this fact in black and white. He is behind bars for killing three people, including a lecturer at Erasmus MC.
