Man suddenly starts stabbing people in the metro

Joost Wolters, a 38-year-old man from Amsterdam who had recently become a father, was stabbed to death on Thursday, 27 July 2017, in metro line 53 in Amsterdam. That evening, he was on his way home and sitting in a moving metro between Van der Madeweg and Venserpolder stations when he was attacked without any apparent reason by Philip O. The two men did not know each other, and there had been no argument, exchange of words or prior contact. Philip O. attacked Joost Wolters completely out of the blue and stabbed him several times. Panic broke out among passengers in the metro. Joost was seriously injured and died shortly afterwards from his wounds. Philip O. was arrested soon after the stabbing. It quickly became clear that he was severely mentally disturbed and that, at the time, he was on unsupervised leave from a closed psychiatric ward at the AMC hospital. It later emerged that he had been known for years to the justice system, probation services and mental health institutions. He had previously been convicted of violent offences, including a stabbing when he was sixteen, and still had an outstanding juvenile TBS measure. He had also shown violent behaviour again in the period before the fatal stabbing. After Joost Wolters’ death, there was strong criticism of the organisations involved with Philip O., because information had not been shared properly and no single authority seemed to have a complete overview of his history, risks and pending measures. The Health and Youth Care Inspectorate and later the Justice and Security Inspectorate concluded that serious mistakes had been made in the run-up to the stabbing and that the organisations involved had failed to gain sufficient control over Philip O. The criminal case focused partly on the extent to which Philip O. could be held responsible for his actions. Experts found that he suffered from serious psychiatric problems, including schizophrenia and long-term psychosis. The court ruled that he had diminished responsibility, but that he was still criminally liable. On 4 May 2018, the Amsterdam District Court sentenced Philip O. to five years in prison and compulsory psychiatric treatment under a TBS order for manslaughter. The court did not find premeditated murder proven, because the attack happened suddenly and without a clearly established prior plan. The case became known as the metro murder and continued to attract attention, not only because of the random killing of Joost Wolters, but also because it later became clear that the perpetrator had long been known to authorities and may never have been allowed to walk around unsupervised.