Apeldoorn man arrested for shooting at Apache military helicopter

The Koninklijke Marechaussee arrested a man from Apeldoorn for shooting at an Apache military helicopter flying overhead on Thursday morning. The helicopter landed safely at a nearby airport, and no one got hurt, a spokesperson for the Marechaussee said to NU.nl.

“We received a report from the team in the Apache that they were being shot at above Apeldoorn,” said the spokesperson for the Koninklijke Marechaussee, a policing force that works as part of the Dutch military. Marechaussee officers arrested the suspect at his home later in the day.

“We are now investigating what happened,” the spokesperson said. Marechaussee officers searched the man’s house and will question him on Friday. The helicopter is also being examined for damage. The Marechaussee believes he fired an air rifle at the military aircraft from his home.

Defense Minister Kajsa Ollongren called it “very worrying” that Dutch soldiers got shot at in their own country. “Fortunately, the pilots are unharmed. They do this work to ensure our safety. We await the investigation,” she said on Twitter.