AMSTERDAM, Netherlands, Nov. 2 (UPI) -- Dutch filmmaker Theo Van Gogh, who received death threats because of his film about violence against Islamic women, has been killed in Amsterdam.
The 47-year-old filmmaker, whose film "Submission" aired on Dutch TV, was stabbed and shot to death while riding his bicycle through a park, the BBC reported Tuesday.
A 26-year-old suspect and a police officer exchanged gunfire, sending both to the hospital with bullet wounds.
Van Gogh, a relative of the famous Dutch painter, had received numerous death threats since making "Submission," a film about a Muslim woman forced into an arranged marriage who is abused by her husband and raped by her uncle.
The movie resulted in an outcry from the Netherlands' 1 million Muslims.
One of Van Gogh's colleagues said the filmmaker "never took (the threats) quite seriously. He was a controversial figure and a champion of free speech."
Police said the suspect held joint Dutch and Moroccan nationality, however, it was not immediately known if the slaying was connected to the film.
