Elderly local resident hit by stray bullet in Utrecht shooting

An 81-year-old woman was hit by a stray bullet while sleeping in her bed on Japuradreef in the Utrecht neighborhood of Overvecht just after midnight on Monday. The bullet was fired "probably with automatic firearms" in a shooting that left two other men injured, one of them seriously, the police said in a statement on Monday.

The elderly woman was "immediately transported to hospital and is doing well under the circumstances", the police said.

The shooting happened around 00:20 a.m. An as yet unidentified perpetrator opened fire on two men driving in a car on Japuradreef. On Twitter the police initially stated the shooting happened on Sabadreef, but in the statement only Japuradreef is mentioned. The shot at car was left on Orinocodreef, and was seized by the police for investigation.

AD reports that 28 bullet casings were found after the shooting. The police believe that the perpetrator or perpetrators used automatic firearms.

The two wounded men drove themselves to hospital in a different car after the shooting, NU.nl reports. One of them is still in hospital with serious injuries, the other has since been discharged. No description of the perpetrator or perpetrators is available as yet.

The police already spoke to a number of witnesses, but are still looking for anyone who saw or heard anything suspicious in the Overvecht neighborhood around the time of the shooting.