Police in The Hague said on Saturday evening they have arrested a 35-year-old man suspected of stabbing three teenagers in a busy shopping street on Friday night.

They have released no other details about the man, but said on Twitter he is of ‘no fixed abode’ and has been taken in for questioning.

The teenagers – a 13-year-old boy from The Hague, and two 15-year-old girls from Alphen aan den Rijn and Leiderdorp – were treated in hospital and released on Friday evening.

They did not know each other, police said, and appear to have been chosen at random.

Motive

The man launched his attack outside the Hudson’s Bay department store, when the streets were crowded with Black Friday bargain hunters.

omg het was vreselijk #DenHaag #GroteMarktstraat #BlackFriday #BlackFriday2019 pic.twitter.com/qKdCrsBOxK

— Emma Grande (@EmmaGrnde) November 29, 2019

The police first issued a description of a man they wanted to question but later withdrew the report. They are still appealing for witnesses and mobile phone footage.

Other incidents

In May 2018, a Syrian man stabbed three people in the street in The Hague in an apparently random attack. This July he was sentenced to an indefinite term in a secure psychiatric unit.

The court said Malek F should not be jailed because he is completely unaccountable for his actions. He was also found not guilty of attempted murder and making terrorist threats.

And in February this year, police appealed for witnesses after a tall man with a strong English accent attacked two people at random with a knife. It is unclear if he has been caught.