Friesland shooting leaves one dead as village copes with drug problems

A 51-year-old man was shot and killed in his home in Oosterwolde, Friesland during the early hours of Sunday morning. The circumstances surrounding the shooting are still under investigation, the police said in a statement. But according to Mayor Harry Oosterman, the closed community involved is struggling to cope with drug problems, which he believes were involved, he said to Omrop Fryslan.

The police responded to the home on Stegingaweg just after midnight, after local residents reported hearing gunshots in the house. First responders tried to resuscitate the victim, but it was to no avail. He died in his home. 

A 53-year-old man from Noordveld and a 58-year-old man from Oosterwolde were in the house at the time. They were arrested as suspects. Later the police also arrested a 41-year-old woman and 42-year-old man, both with no fixed address, elsewhere in Oosterwolde.

The closed community in which the shooting happened has a certain circuit that is difficult to get a grip on, Mayor Oosterman of the municipality Ooststellingwerf, which covers Oosterwolde, said to the local broadcaster. "It is very difficult for the police to keep a good eye on that", he said. In 2013 another 51-year-old man was shot and killed in front of his home in the same neighborhood in a drug confict. The mayor believes that something similar happened here.