Young father shot dead in Amsterdam garage after parking dispute

An argument at a pay terminal inside a parking garage erupted in gunfire, leaving one young man badly wounded. The man, identified by family as Orpheo Gefferie, died from his injuries at an area hospital, police said.

The mother of his seven-year-old child called Gefferie "the best dad" their son could have had. "We will forever love you," she said on social media.

Gefferie, from Almere, was identified by police as being 26, although at least one newspaper report said he was 24. He spent time traveling back and forth between his Almere home and Suriname.

It started early Saturday morning in the Amstelstraat garage at The Bank, near the popular Rembrandtplein district. Both Het Parool and AD reported that an argument over a parking pass spiralled out of control, leading to the shooting.

Gunshots were reported from the scene just before 4:20 a.m. First responders quickly found Gefferie and attempted to treat the victim.

Meanwhile, witnesses at the scene said several people fled in a vehicle that was later spotted by other police officers. Four people were removed from the vehicle and taken into custody.

Three Amsterdam men, aged 20, 21 and 24, and a 22-year-old from Diemen, were still in custody later on Saturday. It was the second shooting at that location in less than a year.

Gefferie was appealing against a court verdict for a home invasion burglary for which he was sentenced to between 15 months and four years in prison, according to the AD and Parool. He also was arrested as a minor for muggings, and as an adult for vandalism, the newspapers said.

"In recent years I think he was no longer in the picture with the police and the judiciary," his attorney Veerle Hammerstein told AD. "I knew Orpheo as a friendly, personable man."