Second arrest made in teen's fatal shooting; Police handling of stalker case under scrutiny
Authorities in the Netherlands arrested a 25-year-old man suspected of involvement in the murder of 16-year-old Humeyra Oz. The girl was shot and killed in a bicycle garage at Rotterdam Designcollege on Tuesday.
Shortly after the mid-day incident, Bekir E., 31, was taken into custody. The two are believed to have known each other, which turned into E.'s alleged violent obsession with the victim. Friends of the victim said the shooting followed a tumultuous two-year period where E. claimed he was the teen's ex-boyfriend, and repeatedly spread malicious rumors about her.
Investigators say E. was accompanied by at least two other people when he arrived at the school in a black Opel Signum. It is unclear if the man arrested on Thursday was one of the car passengers.
Police believe E. killed Oz just 45 minutes before she was to speak with police about a threat E. had sent to her. The case will be reviewed by the Inspectorate's office at the Ministry of Justice and Safety to determine how it was handled by police in Rotterdam and the probationary service in the Netherlands.
The Public Prosecutor said Oz first filed a complaint against E. about six months ago over claims of abuse and threats. Her sister also reported E. to police for making threats. He was arrested the next day, and released from custody by a judge ordering him to make no further contact with the victim.
The prosecution service again ordered his arrest on May 30 for violating the judge's order, but he was not caught. He was found guilty without appearing in court on that accusation, and sentenced to six weeks in prison, to be reduced by three weeks pending his behavior.
E. was finally captured in mid-September, but his case was conditionally dismissed as Oz said she had no further contact with the suspect.
But on December 11, when Oz reported to police a photo that was sent to her. It showed a man with two firearms, the prosecutor said. He was reported for stalking Oz, and for the apparent threat, but he was not arrested because authorities wanted to find him with the weapon so he would not be released from jail too quickly, the prosecutor indicated in a statement. Police spoke with her on Monday the 17th, and scheduled an appointment with Oz the next day at 2 p.m.
She was killed that day at about 1:15 p.m.
It is this timeline, made public by the prosecutor's office, which will be reviewed by the Justice and Safety Inspectorate. The internal investigative body can also utilize the assistance of other departments if necessary, and publish new guidelines for dealing with similar cases in the future. The decision won praise from the probation service director Johan Bac, according to NOS.
A funeral for Oz was held in Turkey on Friday. At the service, a local imam said, "We want to live in a world where women are not mistreated and not used as objects. We can prevent this kind of evil," according to RTL Nieuws.
Rotterdam mayor Ahmed Aboutaleb made similar comment at a city council meeting on Thursday. "Violence against women is horrific. Some people do not understand that women can say no," he said in reference to both the murder of Oz, and the stabbing death of 21-year-old American Sarah Papenheim.
