Schiedam ax waver dies

By Janene Pieters on June 5, 2018 - 07:27
Police at an apartment building on Van den Tempelstraat in Schiedam where cops shot an ax waving man, 30 May 2018
Police at an apartment building on Van den Tempelstraat in Schiedam where cops shot an ax waving man, 30 May 2018. (Photo: @Politie_Rdam / Twitter)

A 26-year-old man from Syria who was shot by the police in Schiedam on Wednesday after he waved an ax on his balcony, passed away on Monday, the Public Prosecutor said. 

The police responded to the man's home on Van den Tempelstraat on Wednesday after reports that the man was waving an ax on his balcony and shouting 'Allahu Akbar'. The police and a negotiator couldn't reason with the man and officers eventually forced their way into the home. The man attacked the cops and a police dog, who died of its injuries. 

Attempts to get the man under control with a taser failed, and the officers eventually shot him. The man was taken to hospital, where he died on Monday. 

The Rijksrecherche, the department that handles internal investigations at the police, is investigating the shooting, as is standard procedure whenever a police officer fires his or her gun.

After the incident Schiedam mayor Cor Lamers said that the man was likely suffering from psychosis. Last week social and cultural planning office SCP revealed that over 40 percent of Syrian refugees in the Netherlands have psychological problems like depression or anxiety. 

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