The Elementary School Musical Was Supposed to Be a Celebration — Then a Teacher Was Stabbed and Seriously Injured By Samira Asma-Sadeque

A Dutch teacher was stabbed while he was with his students at a cultural center for their year-end concert last week, per reports. 

The 53-year-old man, whose name has not been released in Dutch outlets, was taken to the hospital in serious condition, following the stabbing on Wednesday, July 16, in Alblasserdam, a town in the western Netherlands, the Associated Press, DutchNews and Rijnmond reported, citing Dutch police. 

Authorities have since arrested three people, whose names have not been released in Dutch media, the outlets reported. 

They have been identified by Rijnmond as a 44-year-old man, a 35-year-old man and a 39-year-old man. The outlet identified them as parents. 

The musical performance was part of a year-end celebration traditional for elementary school children across the country, where the students perform for their parents during the week before summer holidays begin, according to AP. 

The eighth grade students were in their final year of elementary school, per Rijnmond and AP.

While at the center for the musical, three people got into a scuffle, police said, when the victim intervened.

One witness said the conflict between the parents was long-standing, the outlet reported.

The scuffle began when the 44-year-old man was approached by two people while in the auditorium at the cultural center.

The victim intervened when he was stabbed in the chest, according to the outlet, which reports the alleged attacker was either the 35-year-old or the 39-year-old. 

The 44-year-old man was promptly arrested.

The other two men fled after the stabbing and the 35-year-old man, who was injured in the incident, was arrested at the hospital, per Rinjmond, which cited police accounts. 

The 39-year-old initially fled from the hospital but was arrested later. 

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The victim has been described as a beloved teacher. 

One parent present at the scene said he is “a very nice man who was trying to do the right thing.”

He has been released from the hospital and is now in recovery, Rijnmond reported.

Several of the children witnessed the stabbing and are being provided victim support, police said, according to DutchNews.