Gunshots kill two teenagers in Amsterdam park at the end of New Year's Day
This article was updated with new information.
Police in Amsterdam were investigating a shooting in a park that left two teenagers dead on New Year's Day. The victims were identified as a 16-year-old boy from Delft, and an 18-year-old man from Amsterdam. Police were actively looking for suspects who were linked to the shooting, but no arrests have been made.
A major investigation into the case was launched in the hours after the shooting was reported to police. The two victims were killed on Brug 721, a bridge spanning Christoffel Plantijngracht in the Piet Wiedijkpark. The incident happened at about 11:45 p.m. as the first day of the year came to an end, police said on social media.
"Officers immediately responded and found two victims. The victims appeared to have sustained gunshot wounds. The officers immediately administered first aid and began resuscitation on both victims," police wrote in an update about the incident.
Attempts to revive the victims were unsuccessful, and the two individuals were pronounced dead at the scene. By the time first responders arrived, the suspect or suspects had fled the scene. It was not immediately revealed whether the two victims knew each other, why they were at the park close to midnight on Thursday, nor if they were involved in a conflict with any others.
A large number of major crimes detectives and forensic investigators were at the scene overnight, which was cordoned off by police. Dispatchers also sent two medical trauma teams, one of which was sent by helicopter. Paramedics drove three ambulances to the location in the Osdorp neighborhood of Amsterdam Nieuw-West.
Police officers leading the investigation also did not release a description of a wanted suspect on any public channels available to them. No requests for public assistance were made in the immediate aftermath, and it only emerged that suspects were being sought closer to 9 a.m. the day after the shooting.
Anyone with knowledge of the crime, or video footage from the area, should contact investigators. "Detectives are also keen to hear from witnesses to this serious incident," police said.
