Eindhoven criminal assassinated in Brabant village

By Janene Pieters on September 1, 2017 - 08:10
Dennis Struijk assassinated on Johannes Klingenstraat in Best, 31 Aug 2017
Dennis Struijk assassinated on Johannes Klingenstraat in Best, 31 Aug 2017. Photo: @politieob / Twitter

A 35-year-old man from Eindhoven was gunned down while sitting in a car on Johannes Klingenstraat in Best on Thursday night. He died at the scene. The victim is Dennis Struijk, the police confirmed to Eindhovens Dagblad. He has a criminal record and this was not the first attempt on his life, according to the newspaper.

The shooting happened around 10:30 p.m. on Thursday. Struijk was sitting in a parked car in the Noord-Brabant village, where he was visiting acquaintances, according to the newspaper. Someone shot him several times through the window. Police officers pulled him out of the car and tried to resuscitate him, but it was to no avail.

A burning car was found on Vlinderlaan in Son en Breugel, about 6 kilometers from the crime scene, a short time later. The police believe this may be the perpetrators' getaway car. The car is now part of the investigation. Struijk's home on Sint Petrus Canisiuslaan in Eindhoven was also searched in the investigation. The perpetrators are still at large.

Struijk was targeted by armed men at least six times over the past years, according to Eindhovens Dagblad. He barely escaped with his life when a gunman in a BMW . Struijk, who was a passenger of a car at the time, was hit multiple times, but survived. 

The police considered the 2016 shooting to be an assassination attempt in the criminal environment, according to ED. Struijk was given police protection for the several weeks he spent in the Catharina Hospital. He would not tell the police anything about the background of the assassination attempt, and therefore did not receive extra protection after he left the hospital. Eindhoven mayor John Jorritsma imposed a six month long area ban on Struijk a month after the incident. He was only allowed to return to his home in March this year. 

Struijk also sustained multiple gunshot wounds when he was in June 2015. A friend of his sustained minor injuries in this shooting. In the summer of 2011 local residents called the police when they saw three men in balaclavas climbing over the wall of Struijk's home. And in June 2010 Struijk was attacked by three men on Sint Petrus Canisiuslaan.

Local residents also told Eindhovens Dagblad about another incident that seemed to be an attempted assassination. A few years ago a man with a Kalashnikov showed up at Struijk's door. The gun would not fire, and Struijk was able to get away. 

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