Amsterdam Hostage drama at Apple store ends as gunman hit by police car

Apple store siege: Brit hostage held at gunpoint before cop car takes down armed suspect
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 moment a handcuffed British shopper was held hostage in an Apple Store by a crazed gunman who demanded a ransom of £167million in cryptocurrency.

The Brit, 44, later managed to wriggle free and was saved when the hostage taker was taken down by a police car on Tuesday night in Amsterdam.

The suspect survived and was taken to a hospital as an investigation remained underway in the store, police said.

Police feared he had a bomb and used a robot to check him as he lay injured on the street.

No explosives were found and the suspect - identified as a 27-year-old from Amsterdam - was taken to hospital.

The drama ended a five hour siege in the busy Leidseplein shopping district in the city centre.

Police said the gunman walked into the Apple Store at 5.30pm local time on Tuesday and took several people hostage.

At least four shots were fired at police officers when they arrived on the scene.

Dramatic pictures showed the captor, wearing a camouflage coat with a hood, holding a gun to one victim's head in the shop window.

Footage filmed by Leidseplein resident Ming Trang To shows scenes at the store. In the daytime footage, a gunman is seen holding a hostage.

Footage shows a vehicle ramming into the hostage-taker and police using a robot to examine the suspect for explosives on a nearby street.

Dozens of people were able to leave the store during the ongoing situation, according to police.