Bio

Tristan van der Vlis was born on 13 June 1986 in Alphen aan den Rijn. He lived in an apartment with his parents and had lived in Alphen since his childhood.

His grandfather was Kornelis van der Vlis, who served as mayor of Hennaarderadeel and Franeker and was a member of the National Socialist Movement during World War II. He was the nephew of Arie van der Vlis, a former Dutch general who served as Chief of the Defence Staff from 1992 to 1994.

According to police records, he was a member of a shooting association and possessed three firearms.

Van der Vlis had a history of psychological and psychiatric problems, including a diagnosis of paranoid schizophrenia. In 2006 he spent ten days in a closed institution after attempting suicide.

Murder Story

On 9 April 2011, a gunman entered the Ridderhof mall in Alphen aan den Rijn, Netherlands. He used a rifle and two handguns during the attack. Six people were killed by the gunman and many were wounded. One of the wounded later died, bringing the total dead to seven, including the shooter. Seventeen people were injured during the attack.

The shooter arrived at the mall around midday. He parked near the drugstore emergency exit and took a rifle from his car trunk. He shot several people outside the mall before walking up the stairs and firing into the shopping center. He reloaded multiple times during the attack.

Inside the mall he fired at people near shops such as Hans Textiel, a fish store, a pet store, and the C1000 supermarket. He shot people in hallways, by escalators, and at checkout areas. He used a semi-automatic Smith & Wesson M&P15-22 rifle, a Colt M1911 .45-caliber pistol, and a Taurus Raging Bull .44 Magnum revolver. Investigators later counted 102 rounds fired from the rifle, 16 from the Colt pistol, and 1 from the Taurus revolver.

He dropped the rifle at one point and carried the two handguns while firing into stores. At 12:11:11, he kneeled at a supermarket checkout, pressed the Taurus revolver to his head, and fatally shot himself. He had fired more than 100 rounds in total. A note in his car said explosives had been left in three other malls; those malls were evacuated.

Among the dead were three men aged 80, 49 and 42, and three women aged 91, 68 and 45. One victim was a poet and journalist from Syria who had fled an earlier attempt on his life. Children were among the victims but had only mild injuries.

The shooter was 24-year-old Tristan van der Vlis. Police said he was a member of a shooting association and owned the firearms used. He had a history of psychological and psychiatric problems. He was reported to have been obsessed with the Columbine massacre and chose the date and time partly for that reason. He reportedly said he wanted to punish God by murdering "his creatures."

The shooting led to large memorials and official statements of shock from national leaders. Several people were arrested after making threats online. In 2019, the Dutch Supreme Court found the local police at fault for issuing a firearms licence to the shooter despite his mental illness, and the police were held responsible for damages to victims and relatives. After the attack, Dutch authorities tightened enforcement of firearms laws and revoked many licences.