iHostage: Is Ammar Ajar Based on a Real Person? What Happened to Abdel Rahman Akkad?

As a Bobby Boermans-directed original chronicling what transpires when a local storms an Apple Store in the heart of Amsterdam, The Netherlands, Netflix’s ‘iHostage’ is simply gripping. That’s because it follows everything from the assailant’s actions and demands to his hostages’ precarious positions to the police’s efforts to help resolve matters before things go too far. This assailant is identified as AA or Ammar Ajar in the production, but that was not the name of the real attacker/hostage taker, whose seemingly unfaltering, ominous intentions inspired this film.

Abdel Rahman Akkad is the Man Who Took the Apple Store Hostage in Real Life

Born on January 11, 1995, in Amsterdam, the Netherlands, before reportedly primarily being raised on Spaarndammerstraat street, Abdel Rahman Akkad was a local through and through. However, as also distinguished in the aforementioned original, he had Syrian roots from his father’s side, a point on which the authorities have chosen never to make any public statements. The only thing they inadvertently corroborated by conducting raids after the situation was settled is that the Spaarndammerstraat home was his father’s while he had recently been residing in Westerdok.

It was around 5:30 pm on February 22, 2022, when Abdel stepped into the Apple Store on Leidseplein wearing a camouflage suit and with a semi-automatic as well as a pistol in hand. The 27-year-old then tried to take control of the floor, but all customers and employees either fled or hid from him until just a 44-year-old Bulgarian patron was left behind in the chaos. When nearby officers arrived at the scene mere minutes later, upon hearing reports of a robbery, he shot in their direction 4 times before finding the foreign client and holding him hostage at gunpoint.

Abdel had no idea that while the store seemed empty apart from him and his hostage, there were about 69 other people in the building – 4 were hiding in a closet, whereas 65 were trapped upstairs. He subsequently contacted the police himself, demanding a negotiator before telling them he wanted £200 million in cryptocurrency (roughly $260 million) and a free escape in a limousine. What followed was a stand-off, during which he even sent selfies to a local news outlet – selfies that indicated he also had a bomb strapped to his chest – yet his motivations were never clear.

Abdel Rahman Akkad Had a History of Legal Troubles and Possible Mental Health Issues

As per reports, Abdel had several run-ins with the law before the fateful day in 2022, and he allegedly even exhibited erratic behavior on a few occasions that resulted in hospital trips. Understandably, not a lot of information is available regarding the latter aspect of his life as medical records are private/sealed; we do know he last faced a court of law in May of 2021. That’s when he was convicted of harassing an ex-girlfriend, for which he was handed down a month of suspended jail sentence, 60 hours of community service, and a 3-year contact ban/restraining order.

According to court documents, this case stemmed from Abdel’s ex-girlfriend accusing him of essentially tormenting her with inappropriate texts for months and once even threatening her life. However, he was acquitted of the latter despite her claiming he had once gone as far as to look her in the eye and drag his finger across his throat to indicate he would kill her if he got the chance. As for the messages, per records, he tried to get in touch with her regularly from July 1 to November 20, 2020, yet when that failed, he began texting her daily, often with insulting, pornographic, suggestive, and threatening visuals. We should also mention that he had a criminal history prior to this, too, including a charge of possession of weapons.

Abdel Rahman Akkad Died in the Aftermath of the Incident

Since Abdel had no plans of letting his hostage go until his demands were met, the stand-off continued, and there came a point when the latter was so thirsty that he risked asking for water. Thankfully, the captor complied by relaying this additional demand, driving officials to carefully place a few bottles outside the Apple store for them to grab, hopefully without any issues. It was around 10:30 pm when the two men made their way to the front door, with the 27-year-old still holding the Bulgarian male at gunpoint, only for things to change within seconds as they tried to retrieve the water bottles.

The 44-year-old saw his opportunity and ran right into the street, just for Abdel to follow – he did not shoot his weapon or activate his explosives; he instinctively simply followed him on foot. That’s when a member of one of the specialized units on standby at the scene in Leidseplein pressed the accelerator on his vehicle and hit him hard to hopefully dispel the threat for good. Once it became evident that there was no imminent danger of any sort, the officials moved in to secure the scene, rescue the remaining hostages, as well as defuse the alleged bomb before rushing the attacker to the hospital.

We specify “remaining hostages” because, by this point, the DSI (Dienst Speciale Interventies, aka Special Intervention Service) had already gotten the 65 individuals trapped upstairs out through the back door. As Abdel was rushed to a nearby hospital to be treated, the investigations continued, and it came to light that while he did have some explosives on his person, they were not wired to detonate. In the end, after the raid of his and his father’s house also turned out to be a bust in terms of figuring out his motivations, the case came to a conclusion with his death a mere day later. Abdel passed away from the injuries he sustained from the car accident on the evening of February 23.