Maybe 4 people hit by police bullets during Rotterdam riots; 20 detectives investigating

During riots in Rotterdam on Friday, four people may have been hit by bullets, the Public Prosecution Service (OM) said Sunday. The police deployed 20 detectives in a large-scale investigation team to investigate the riots on the Coolsingel.

The Rijksrecherche, the national criminal investigation department, investigates whether the four people shot were hit by police bullets.

According to OM, 49 suspects were arrested on the night of the riots. Eight of them are still in custody. They are suspected of, among other things, public violence, vandalism and obstruction, or assault on aid workers. They will be arraigned "where possible" this week.

The majority of the 49 arrested persons come from the immediate vicinity of Rotterdam. But some also come from Noord-Brabant and Noord-Holland. Among them are six minors. The majority of the suspects are young adults. Most were sent on their way with a behavioral instruction. This means they are not allowed to be in certain places in Rotterdam until January 2 next year. Violating this instruction is punishable.

The large-scale investigation team set up by the police is looking for more rioters. "They will identify and arrest as many rioters as possible as quickly as possible," the police said on Sunday. The team is "securing" CCTV footage and "grabbing the valuable videos that people share with us."

Sunday also saw rioting in Rotterdam. Seventeen football fans were arrested during the halftime of the Feyenoord-PEC Zwolle match. The police confirmed reports on social media. The arrests followed after a group of about 60 to 70 turned against the riot police outside De Kuip stadium and pelted cops with fireworks, cans, and a crash barrier.

The Rotterdam team led 4-0 at halftime. "Some of the 250 supporters drove to the pub, away from the stadium," a police spokesperson said. Some stayed behind and then turned against the police, who were there because of the unrest of the past few days in the city and further in the country. "Saturday, supporters invaded football stadiums, including that of Heracles, something you do not want and is not allowed. That is why we were there." Until halftime, the atmosphere was "great, until people started throwing things."

The riot police responded by driving vans through the group to disperse the rioters. Someone then threw a crash barrier at the police van. The man and 16 others were arrested. All in all, the unrest lasted a few minutes. As far as is known, no one was injured. The second half of the match started without any problems or delays.