Belgian man shot in the head during apparent robbery in Alblasserdam

Emergency services rushed a man to a hospital in critical condition after a shooting in Kinderdijk early on Friday morning. The victim is a 74-year-old Belgian man who was shot in the head during a robbery in a villa on Puntweg in the village, part of the Alblasserdam municipality No arrests were made.

The victim is from Overijse, Belgium. He was taken to an area hospital. "A woman was also present in the house; She was unharmed," police stated.

The incident happened at around 12:30 a.m. when both victims were asleep. It is not known if more than one perpetrator was involved. According to De Telegraaf, the police initially kept responding paramedics at a distance while officers checked if it was safe for them to approach.

Inside the villa, they found an older man with a bullet wound to the head. The victim was responsive when first responders arrived.

A large scale investigation included the use of sniffer dogs and the collection of forensic evidence. Authorities also searched the nearby rivers for any sign of the perpetrators, who fled the villa in an unknown direction.

The motive of the robbery was not immediately clear. The police are investigating and called on witnesses to come forward, as well as those with camera images from the area.