Suspect in fatal shopping center shooting arrested after 1-month manhunt

Police on Saturday arrested Minh Nghia V. on suspicion of shooting his ex-girlfriend and her mother in the parking lot of the Walburg shopping center in Zwijndrecht last month. The 49-year-old man had been on the run since the January 21 incident.

The shooting left the 66-year-old woman, Michel, dead at the scene. Her daughter, Anneke, was still being treated in a hospital last week with severe injuries but she is recovering, her family said.

A tip “from an observant citizen” helped officers make a breakthrough in the case. V. was taken into custody on Kethelbrug in Schiedam. The Zuid-Holland city is just west of Rotterdam. The scene of the shooting was about 30 kilometers from where the arrest took place.

“At the time of his arrest, the suspect was alone in a car. This has been seized for further investigation,” police said.

Investigators suspected he had been hiding out in the Rotterdam area, and may have been receiving assistance from others. The authorities offered a 30,000 euros reward for information leading to Vuong’s arrest. Police did not immediately say if the tipster qualified for the reward.

Anneke’s relatives previously said that V. constantly called and harassed his ex-girlfriend after they split up. They said the shooting was an act of senseless violence that utterly destroyed their lives.

“Our innocent and defenseless mother, Michel, was cowardly shot dead by Anneke’s ex-boyfriend," they said in a statement last week. In recent days, they have been devoted to Anneke’s recovery.