Dendermonde nursery attack

Dendermonde nursery attack
Dendermonde shown within Belgium
Location	Sint-Gillis-bij-Dendermonde, Dendermonde, Belgium
Coordinates	51°1′10″N 4°6′40″E / 51.01944°N 4.11111°E / 51.01944; 4.11111Coordinates: 51°1′10″N 4°6′40″E / 51.01944°N 4.11111°E / 51.01944; 4.11111
Date	23 January 2009 10:00 a.m. (CET)
Attack type	Murder, stabbing
Weapons	Knife Hatchet
Deaths	3
Non-fatal injuries	13 (including the attacker)
Perpetrator	Kim De Gelder

The Dendermonde nursery attack was a stabbing attack on the Fabeltjesland daycare centre in the Flemish village of Sint-Gillis-bij-Dendermonde in Dendermonde, Belgium, at 10:00 a.m. CET (9:00 a.m. UTC) on 23 January 2009. Three people were stabbed to death, and twelve were mutilated in the attack. The suspect has been linked to a separate murder of an elderly lady and police have suggested he was plotting more nursery attacks. The daycare centre where the initial attack occurred is expected never to reopen.

Kim De Gelder, a 20-year-old Belgian from Sinaai, entered the Fabeltjesland nursery through an unlocked side-door, claiming that he had a question to ask. He then entered one of the rooms and began attacking small children before moving to another room. The man was reported to be wearing black-and-white makeup with his hair vividly colored red, similar to that of the Joker from the Batman films (who, however, has green hair and white and red facial features). De Gelder's attorney, Jaak Haentjens, later formally denied any link to "the Joker", attributing the claims of face paint to De Gelder's pale skin. De Gelder was, in the eyes of his friends and colleagues, a silent boy, who never said anything.

A total of eighteen infants under the age of three and six adults were in the nursery at the time of the attack. Two infants and one adult were killed; six children, all between one and three years old, were seriously injured; another four suffered minor injuries; and nine escaped unscathed. The alleged perpetrator left the scene on his bike.

Initial reports on Belgian television suggested that five people had been killed and twenty others had been injured, with government officials only confirming the death of one adult and one child. This number was later increased, as another infant had died from the injuries he had sustained. It has also been reported that some of the surviving children have needed plastic surgery due to serious mutilations.