A medical student who killed two of his next-door neighbours and a lecturer who was teaching a class at Rotterdam’s Erasmus University has been sentenced to life in prison.

Fouad L. , 34, shot dead 43-year-old Jurgen Damen in 2003 as he was giving a lecture and set fire to the classroom.

Shortly beforehand he had killed his neighbour, 39-year-old Marlous and her 14-year-old daughter Romy in their home before setting his own flat ablaze.

L. said he was filled with an “uncontrollable rage” after the university prevented him sitting his medical exams because he refused undergo a psychological assessment. His neighbour had reported him for mistreating a pet rabbit, resulting in a community service.

The sentence was in line with the public prosecutor’s demand of 30 years and confinement in a secure psychiatric hospital.

Molotov cocktails

Video footage from the building shown to the court showed how L. threw six Molotov cocktails into a classroom after the shooting, causing fire to spread rapidly. One member of staff who hid under a desk had to flee for her life as the flames approached her.

L. told the court he had been carrying out “a script” and that he originally planned to kill several students when he took a loaded gun into Rotterdam’s Erasmus Medical Centre on September 28, 2023 but reasoned with himself to keep casualties to a minimum.

“During those negotiations the plan was minimalised, and that was the final plan,” he said. “That is what was left over.”

The judge in the case said L. had “cold-bloodedly ended the lives” of his three victims. “The consequences for those involved, the relatives and the city of Rotterdam are huge. The grief that you have caused is huge. It will stay with many for the rest of their lives,” he said at the sentencing.