Rash of Rotterdam shootings, robberies linked to city gang; 13 arrested

The Rotterdam police arrested a group of criminals suspected of being responsible for a series of street shootings in Rotterdam-Zuid between September and December last year. A total of 13 people were arrested, the four most recent ones last week, the police announced in a statement.

Several people were injured in the shootings, but there were no fatalities.

The suspects are between the ages of 20 and 26 years old and are all from Rotterdam. The police suspect the detainees of burglaries, robberies, shootings and so-called rip deals - usually a drug deal in which one party tries to make off with the money and the drugs.

The suspects did not always work together - sometimes they shot at each other. "Individuals who first appeared to be companions, shot at each other in the next case", the police said.

The police were able to link seven cases to these suspects. Two shootings on Polderlaan and Putseplein in September. Two robberies in Oranjeboomstraat and Bermdijk in November. A hostage situation on Zevenkampsering. Two shootings in December, one near Stieltjesstraat and one on Wielderchtstraat. And a shooting on Heelmeesterstraat in Schiedam in February of this year.

According to the police, calm returned to Rotterdam after the suspects were arrested. "Since the arrests we've seen a dramatic decrease in the number of shooting incidents in Rotterdam-Zuid", Niek Wennink, head of the investigation, said.

One of the detainees is Elias A., who escaped police custody at a Rotterdam hospital in January and was on the run for over a month before the police caught him again.