A hostage stand-off at the Apple Store in Amsterdam ended with police driving into the gunman with a car as he ran from the store.
The hostage taker, who had carried a pistol and an automatic rifle, had held dozens of people captive in the centre of the Dutch capital.
The situation ended when a hostage, reportedly a 44-year old British man, fled from the building shortly after 10.30pm on Tuesday, more than four hours after the siege began.
Dramatic footage showed police hitting the hostage taker with the vehicle as he gave chase from the building in Leidseplein square.
“The hostage played a heroic role by forcing a breakthrough,” Amsterdam police chief Frank Pauw said. “Otherwise, this could have been a long night.”
The incident began as an armed robbery and evolved into the hostage situation, according to local media.
The hostage taker had fired at least four shots when police arrived at the square around 6 pm, Mr Pauw told a news conference.
The gunman, who had a criminal record, had contacted the police himself during the hostage taking, demanding a ransom of €200 million in crypto currencies and a safe passage out of the building, he said.
“He threatened a hostage with a gun and threatened to blow himself up, so we took it very seriously,” he said.
The hostage who had fled the store did so when a police robot delivered water at the door at the request of the hostage taker. He was uninjured.
Dozens of police, including heavily armed specialist arrest teams, massed around the store, cleared and sealed off the nearby Leidseplein square and urged people living there or in shops or cafes nearby to remain indoors. The square ringed by bars and restaurants is close to one of the Dutch capital’s main shopping streets.
During the siege, about 70 people who were being held by the gunman were able to leave the store. There were no reports of any other injuries..
The hostage taker was seriously injured when hit by the car, but able to speak when he was arrested, police said.
He was searched for explosives by a robot as he lay injured on the ground.
