On January 29, 2015, a young man, neatly dressed in a suit but armed with a gun, enters the NOS studio in Hilversum. This disrupts the 8 p.m. news, which would start a few minutes later. Many people initially think of a terrorist attack, so soon after the massacre at the Charlie Hebdo editorial office in Paris. However, it appears to be a one-man action by a student who had not shown up for his studies in Delft a few weeks before his attempt to take people hostage in the studio. The man who entered the studio in Hilversum with a gun on January 29, 2015 appears to be a nineteen-year-old student who studied in Delft. Tarik Z. lived in the Pijnacker area. A few minutes before the 8 o’clock news, the man managed to threaten the doorman of the NOS news with a pistol with a silencer and then entered the studio of the Media Park. He gives the doorman a letter. The doorman must open the door of the studios with his electronic pass. Those present in the studio leave as quickly as possible. The man claims to be from a hacker collective and to have been hired by intelligence services. The letter contains the hostage taker’s demands. He claims that radioactive explosives are hidden in various places in the Netherlands. He demands airtime. The doorman who was with him had a conversation with him as calmly as possible. The director of the news was handed the letter. He realized that the situation was dangerous and was asked repeatedly if they wanted to call 112. In the meantime, people in the studio ran away from Studio 10 and the building was quickly evacuated. The message ‘Please wait’ appears on the TV screen. NOS employee Stefan van de Weijde posted on Twitter: ‘Panic in Hilversum. Man with gun demands airtime. The news is cancelled.’
The man’s claims and threats later turn out to be untrue, and his gun also turns out not to be a real gun.
What did the suspect want?
The gunman’s purpose in reading his letter of demands live on air was rather incoherent. He says he does this to reveal secrets, to prevent himself from becoming a victim of something. While he waits to appear live on the broadcast, the hostage doorman has a quiet conversation with him. However, a broadcast did not occur. Just when he indicates that he thinks it is all taking too long, the police raid. The man is summoned by an armed ‘Police Media Team’ (specially created after the attack in Paris) to drop his weapon (a pistol with a silencer), which he immediately does. He is then ordered to keep his hands behind his back and the man is then overpowered without resistance. This was all filmed and broadcast several times on TV the same evening and circulated halfway around the world via the Internet.
Shortly afterwards, the letter that the ‘confused’ man was carrying was ambushed by a group of police officers, who ordered him to drop his weapon. He then surrenders without resistance. The building will then remain closed for several hours. Police search the building for explosives and possibly other intruders. Neither of these are found.
What did the letter say?
The letter that Tarik Z. had with him and which he wanted to read on TV (probably by a hostage) stated the following: ‘When you read this, don’t panic. Don’t shout or warn your colleagues. Act as if nothing is wrong. I am heavily armed. If you just cooperate nicely, nothing will happen to you. Realize that I am not alone. There are still five plus 98 hackers ready for a cyber attack. In addition, eight heavy explosives containing radioactive material have been planted in this country. If you do not take me to studio 8 to take over a broadcast, we will be forced to take action. You don’t want that on your conscience, do you? So now guide me to studio 8, the NOS studio.
We have been taken hostage by heavily armed men. There are more of them in the rest of the country and they have 98 hackers ready for a cyber attack. Eight heavy explosives containing radioactive material have also been placed in the country. They want to do a live broadcast to tell their story. If that live broadcast is disrupted in any way, they will take action. It is monitored from outside whether the live broadcast can be viewed throughout the Netherlands. Their conditions are therefore among others.
- This building is not being stormed.
- The live broadcast is not delayed, not interrupted for a single second and not edited.
- For the sake of clarity , no information bar and no subtitles are added to the live broadcast.
If the conditions are met, we will be released. I’ll say it again.’
Who was the intruder?
The identity of the intruder who entered the NOS studio on January 29, 2015 is known that he was nineteen years old at the time of his act, that his name is Tarik Z. and that he lives in an area near Pijnacker. It is first claimed that his parents died not long before his action. However, the latter appears to be incorrect. His parents have not died and Tarik basically still lives at home. His parents have a palm nursery. Initial rumors are that the student acted alone, and may have been confused and a ‘loner’ who may believe in a conspiracy theory. He also told a journalist that he had not intended to actually kill people. Tarik Z. was born in Zoetermeer. He is the son of an Egyptian father and a Dutch mother.
Tarik Z
Tarik Z. (Tarik Zahzah in full according to hartvannederland.nl) lived with his parents in Pijnacker. Tarik Z. studies Molecular Science & Technology at the TU in Delft. Student (initials RT) and also a fellow student of the suspect gives a live interview on the radio the same evening and explains that he and Tarik are both studying in Delft and that they are both first-year students. He describes Tarik Z. as an ordinary boy, who claimed that he did something with computers as a side job. Tarik regularly went to the gym and played football, and like many boys his age, he tried to seduce girls in the nightlife. According to his fellow student, he preferred to live in Leiden because there would be more girls to seduce there. However, after receiving poor grades, he had not shown up for his studies for several weeks. He appears to have nothing to do with a hacker collective as he claimed, nor does he have any connections to intelligence services. There is a good chance that he was confused or ‘just’ needed to be world news for a moment. According to some, Tarik is a conspiracy theorist. He was a big fan of Michal Jackson and in performances at school he had sometimes shown how well he could imitate Jackson’s dance moves. However, when the world star died, Tarik was of the opinion that Michael Jackson was not dead but that there was a conspiracy behind his staged death.
Safety TV studios
What does the NOS incident say about the safety of television studios? Security measures have been tightened for some time now, but there is not much you can do against a person with a gun on the spot. The doorman acted well and remained calm and gave the suspect the opportunity to tell his story. The police were able to arrest the suspect without causing any casualties. Even the suspect did the right thing by surrendering immediately because resistance could probably have cost him his life. However, we have to conclude again and again that even well-secured buildings are only safe to a limited extent.