A quiet village in the Dutch province of Gelderland has turned into a warzone after dozens of masked men, some reportedly carrying heavy firearms, descended on the area in two vans and opened fire, killing one person and seriously wounding two police officers.
The violence in Overasselt, around 10 kilometres south of Nijmegen, has been described by Dutch Justice Minister David van Weel as something the Netherlands has not previously seen in this form. “The fact that you have hordes of dozens of young people here walking through the streets of the village armed, and immediately opening fire on the police, is unprecedented and new,” van Weel said.
Police were called to Ewijkseweg at around 4:20 a.m. after reports of gunfire. According to surveillance footage, two vans had appeared on the road shortly before, with dozens of masked men emerging from it. The group headed toward a farm just outside the village.
In front of the home, one of the men reportedly shot and killed a security guard. The group also encountered a car at which shots were also fired.
The gunmen subsequently opened fire on two police officers who had been dispatched to the area following a report of a suspicious situation. Both officers were wounded, one critically according to reports. Both were taken to hospital and have since been reported to be “out of danger.”
The shooting prompted a massive search operation. Police officers and the Dutch Special Intervention Unit were deployed, while helicopters and police dogs assisted in the search. By the end of the day, police had arrested 34 suspects at various locations across the Netherlands.
While police have not shared the ethnicity and backgrounds of the criminals, Geert Wilders shared a picture of one of the suspects on X, showing a black man being taken away by police.
Dutch journalist Mick Van Wely commented on social media about the situation, saying “Stop with that ‘un-Dutch’ nonsense in Overasselt. We’ve seen a severed head on a sidewalk, a journalist, brother of a crown witness, and a lawyer have been shot dead, and there’s widespread corruption at all levels. The Netherlands has been a narco-state for a long time.”
Justice minister van Weel rejected the notion that the Netherlands is a narco-state but he acknowledged the presence of deeply rooted organized crime.
