Cop charged with attempted manslaughter for shooting at car evading traffic stop

The Public Prosecution Service (OM) is charging a 38-year-old police officer with attempted manslaughter for shooting at a car in Rotterdam when the driver tried to evade a traffic stop. Five bullets struck the car with three people inside. There were no injuries.

The incident happened on May 12 last year on Strevelsweg in Rotterdam’s Feijenoord district where several incidents involving explosives had happened in the preceding weeks. The police pulled the car over after the automatic license plate recognition system signaled that the car might have been involved in scouting locations before several explosions took place in the city.

The car stopped, and the occupants initially cooperated, the OM said. But when the officer asked for their identity cards, the driver “appeared to grab his waistband” and drove away quickly.

“Because of that arm movement, the officer thought he was reaching for a gun. She then fired five shots. According to the OM, shooting at the fleeing car was not the appropriate reaction.

“Shooting at a car is only an appropriate response in exceptional cases, and that was not the case here,” the OM said. The OM will prosecute the police officer for attempted manslaughter or attempted aggravated assault.

The OM informed the officer involved. The date of the first hearing is not yet known.

Police officers in the Netherlands can face criminal prosecution for violating rules about the use of force, though this is more likely to happen when an incident results in injury or death. Police officers must follow a strict protocol determining when they may use violence on duty, and the use of a service weapon must be justifiable and proportionate.

Cases where force is used by police are typically investigated by the Rijksrecherche. The independent organization investigates all circumstances where a government employee may have criminal law in the course of their work.