A man who held several people hostage at an Apple store in Amsterdam demanded 200 million euros ($227 million) in cryptocurrency. He was taken to hospital after being “seriously injured,” police said.
In Brief:
- An armed man held a hostage for five hours, eventually hit by a police car in Amsterdam’s Leidseplein Apple store.
- Surrounding people live-streamed on Twitter and shared photos.
The suspect, identified as a 27-year-old, dressed in camouflage, fired a gun and held a person hostage at the Apple flagship store in Amsterdam for about five hours before the hostage managed to flee the store. The suspect was hit by a police car as he ran after the hostage, the report said.
Several Twitter users began live-streaming the incident and posting footage and photos of the Apple store where it occurred.
According to police, the suspect demanded the $200 million ransom in cryptocurrency as well as a safe exit from the Apple Store in the Leidseplein neighbourhood where he was holding the man hostage at gunpoint.
With the rise in the popularity of digital currencies, crypto ransom demands, whether online or offline have also heightened. Ransomware attacks extort cryptocurrencies through blackmail threats and privacy interference. The crypto data surveillance firm Chainalysis reported earlier this month on ransomware attacks amounting to $602 million last year.
