Two now 17-year-old boys from Zaandam, who were 14 and 15 years old at the time, had to appear before the juvenile court on Monday, October 27, because they were suspected, among other things, of threatening a school shooting at a school in Zaandam on Tuesday, April 4, 2023.
The judge gave a verdict on Monday, November 10, and convicted both boys.
The 15-year-old suspect was also suspected of attempted extortion of the school and the unlawful use of a classmates ID details, which initially made it appear as if that boy was behind the threat; that boy was subsequently actually arrested.
What happened that day
On Tuesday, April 4, 2023, several teachers at a secondary school in Zaandam received an email threatening a school shooting. A photo was attached of an unrecognizable person with an automatic rifle. The school took the threat seriously, alerted the police, and closed the school doors for that day.
It caused a lot of unrest. Students, parents, teachers, and other school staff were worried.
The unrest was also visible to the outside world, but for the then 15-year-old suspect, this was no reason to stop. He sent an email demanding 100,000 dollars in crypto to prevent the school shooting.
Investigation
During the investigation into the school shooting and the role of the two suspects, more criminal offenses came to light. They were involved in online fraud. Both are also suspected of fraud in association, computer trespassing, and manipulating computer data. The then 15-year-old suspect also had hacking tools in his possession and is suspected of money laundering in association.
Sentences and verdicts
It has now been over 2.5 years since the threat of the school shooting occurred. The investigation into the digital fraud of other people took a lot of time. The boys are now both 17 years old and, as far as known, have not committed any other recent offenses. They seem to have improved their lives and gotten back on track. The time elapsed, the very young age of the suspects at the time, and the fact that no new offenses have occurred were taken into account by the public prosecutor in the sentence.
She also emphasized in court that these are very serious offenses. The threat of the school shooting caused a lot of panic and unrest. Regarding the fraud offenses, the public prosecutor stated in court that the suspect made gross profits at the expense of people who are less digitally skilled.
Ultimately, the public prosecutor demanded 135 days of juvenile detention for the then 15-year-old suspect, with a deduction of 15 days pre-trial detention, of which 120 days conditional with a probation period of two years and the imposition of special conditions as advised by the Council with a probation period of one year. The public prosecutor also requested an unconditional community service order of 200 hours for the suspect.
The court sentenced this suspect to 135 days of juvenile detention, with a deduction for pre-trial detention, of which 120 days conditional with a probation period of two years. The court imposed the special conditions as advised by the Council, with a probation period of one year. Finally, the court also imposed an unconditional community service order of 100 hours.
The second suspect faced a demand of 14 days juvenile detention, with a deduction of pre-trial detention (14 days) and a community service order of 100 hours.
The court sentenced the suspect to a community service order of 120 hours, which can be replaced by 60 hours of juvenile detention if not performed or performed poorly. The time the suspect spent in pre-trial detention is deducted from the community service. For each day detained, two hours of community service are deducted.
