On March 29, 2024, a car was shot at in Aegidiusstraat in Rotterdam-Kralingen. The 22-year-old man who was a passenger in the car was fatally hit. The Public Prosecution Service demands 13 years of imprisonment against the man suspected of this.
That evening, the suspect was in his car talking to his nephew, who was still outside, when another car approached with two occupants. The suspect told his nephew to get away and drove off himself. The nephew then got into the car with the occupants. He claims he was forced to do so. The suspect also claims that his nephew would never have entered voluntarily. The suspect then parked his car around the corner, hid behind a parked car, and fired two shots. One bullet hit the hood, the other went through the open side window into the wrist and head of the victim.
Drug Crime
There was a conflict between the suspect and the two occupants of the car regarding drug sales. The file confirms this account. The suspect felt hunted and threatened for a long time. When his nephew got into the car, he felt even more threatened and wanted to save him.
Although the suspect stated he was very afraid of the two occupants, he continued to deal drugs, while the victim and his companion did not want that at all. The prosecutor during the hearing said: “How afraid was the suspect really if he just continues dealing while knowing that it is seriously frowned upon? Moreover, the suspect previously had a regular job in the port. Choosing drug crime was therefore a conscious choice. A conscious choice to earn money through crime.”
Attack by the Suspect
In the indictment, the prosecutor discussed why, according to him, there can be no question of self-defense or excessive self-defense. It is important that the action must be defensive and not offensive. According to the Public Prosecution Service, the shooting was an attack by the suspect. He parked his own car out of sight, hid behind a parked car, suddenly appeared as the car approached, and then fired twice.
The suspect claims he aimed at the tires of the car, but the fired shots indicate exactly the opposite. Both fired bullets had a height and direction that had a much more dangerous effect, an effect aimed at causing injury. The prosecutor said: “How can you maintain that you are aiming at the tires when you are at a short or very short distance from the car as it passes by and then shoot through the side window of the car?”
Long Imprisonment
“This shooting incident once again shows that drug crime and deadly gun violence go hand in hand. Such examples regularly dominate national news,” said the prosecutor during the hearing. “And if this shooting incident also takes place on a public road, on a busy Friday evening, it greatly affects the sense of safety of citizens. The sense of safety that is already being put to the test in Rotterdam.”
“But even more importantly, the family of the victim will forever miss him. Such serious criminal offenses, gun violence with fatal outcomes, justify a long imprisonment.”
