Man attacked with hammer in broad daylight

A 58-year-old man from Winterswijk was seriously injured when someone attacked him with a hammer on Sunday afternoon. According to witnesses, the perpetrator hit him on the back of the head with a hammer, before fleeing in a car, AD reports.

The incident happened just after 1:00 p.m. on Verlengde Morsestraat. The police released a statement saying that they're investigating the circumstances surrounding the incident and that they are looking for the perpetrator. Investigators call on witnesses to come forward.

"I was visiting my mother who lives there", a witness said to newspaper AD. "I looked outside and saw a man getting out of a car. He hit another man, walking on the sidewalk, with a hammer on the back of his head. The victim bled like a pig. I called to my mother: call 112! She did. My wife ran outside to help the victim."

"I saw the perpetrator drive away in the car", the wife said to the newspaper. "The car stood on the sidewalk. He obviously hit a garden fence, because there were pieces of stone on the sidewalk. I thought: you're not getting just like that. I took a stone and threw it at the car. The stone landed on the hood. The car drove away. He had foreign license plates. From which country, I can't say. I called the license number out very loudly, hoping that bystanders would write it down. Then I concerned myself with the victim. He was conscious, but not speaking. The man bled heavily. I covered the wound until the ambulance came."

An ambulance and a trauma helicopter were at the scene within minutes. The victim was given first aid on the spot, before being transported to hospital by ambulance. 

The police closed down the street and did a trace evidence investigation. A helicopter could be seen circling above Winterswijk for over an hour, according to the newspaper.

The motive behind the attack is still unclear.