Six killed and eleven wounded in a shooting at a Dutch mall

Six people were killed and eleven were wounded, some seriously, in a shootout in a shopping center in the Dutch town of Alphen aan den Rijn, said today the council of the town in the southwestern Netherlands.According to eyewitnesses quoted by public television NOS , a man armed with a machine gun fired on several people in the mall and then shot himself in the head.The circumstances of the attack are still unclear, according to the Dutch agency ANP.

In a statement, the municipality of Alphen aan den Rijn said the incident happened just after midnight at the main entrance of the shopping center known as "Ridderhof" which has been cordoned off by authorities and closed to the public.The death toll rises to six the time, authorities said City at a press conference.Dutch television said the author of the shooting was a blond man about 25 years which started shooting in the center with the machine gun and then killed himself with another gun.The owner of a store in the mall told state television that "when the incident had many people in the mall , and panicked when they saw the armed individual went in and closed. "