Men apologize for drive-by paintball shooting targeting refugees in Volendam

The three men from Volendam who shot at two asylum seekers from a moving car with a paintball gun and posted a video of the incident online turned themselves in to the police on Tuesday night, the Edam-Volendam municipality reported on Wednesday. They also offered apologies and presented the victims with a present.

A video showing a man in a passing car shooting at two individuals accompanied by the text "shooting refugees" began circulating on social media on Tuesday. The Central Agency for the Reception of Asylum Seekers (COA) identified the victims as two adult men from the nearby asylum seekers' reception location recently established at the Van der Valk Hotel Volendam in the village of Katwoude near Volendam.

"The shooting had a significant impact on these two asylum seekers," a COA spokesperson told NH Nieuws. "They come from a war-torn country and are still traumatized. It also greatly affected the residents of Volendam, as the video and the reactions to it made national news."

According to the COA, the three men, all in their early twenties, are from Volendam. They bought the paintball gun in Beverwijk. On their way back to Volendam, they saw the asylum seekers, shot at them, and then shared the video online.

The municipality announced on Wednesday that the three men had turned themselves in to the police on Tuesday night. “We did something terribly stupid and would like to make up for it,” they said to the police.

On Wednesday, they visited the asylum center to apologize to the two residents. This took place in the presence of COA representatives, municipal officials, and the police. A COA spokesperson to NH Nieuws mentioned that the men also offered a bag filled with typical Volendam products, including shrimps and fish as a gesture.

Despite previous reports from the COA, the asylum seekers have not yet filed a police report.