Police raid homes in Amsterdam & Arnhem in hunt for suspected killer
Update 25 October 2023 at 10:12 - Article updated to remove the suspect's surname and blur his photo after his arrest.
The police conducted unsuccessful raids on homes in Arnhem and Amsterdam in search of 24-year-old Bretly D., a man on the loose suspected of being involved in a fatal shooting in Rotterdam on October 13 and a stabbing in Zutphen on Friday night. The police have offered a reward of 25,000 euros for a tip leading to his arrest.
According to the police, he is suspected of involvement in the death of a 60-year-old man who was found severely wounded with a gunshot wound on the night of October 12 to 13. He is also suspected of stabbing a 32-year-old man in Zutphen on the night of October 20 to 21. An argument in a house on Van Hallstraat escalated, and D. likely stabbed the man. The victim managed to escape and alert the police. The victim's injuries were minor.
During the night from Sunday to Monday, the police raided a residence in Amsterdam-Oost, as investigations showed he was in Amsterdam on Sunday. On Monday evening, the police searched an apartment in Arnhem-Zuid. Another house in Amsterdam-Oost was searched on Tuesday, but the man had not been found, the police reported.
D. does not have a fixed residence. On Tuesday, the police reported that D. frequently travels by public transportation, particularly by train. They are urging commuters to be vigilant and observe their surroundings. “We have no information yet that he approaches random people he encounters on the street or on public transport,” the police wrote.
D. is considered “armed and dangerous” by the police. Therefore, they encourage anyone who believes they have seen D. to contact the police immediately and not to approach him themselves.
A tip leading to his arrest comes with a reward of 25,000 euros. The police have received several tips since. “Every tip is reviewed, investigated and – where necessary – followed up,” the police wrote. Two of these tips led to the unsuccessful raids in Arnhem and Amsterdam.
AD reported on Tuesday that D. was sentenced to juvenile detention for stabbing a man in The Hague in 2014 when he was 15. The ruling from 2015 stated that D. stabbed the victim with an 18-centimetre-long knife after they performed mutual oral sex. He then told the victim he wanted "paedophile justice" because he and his brother were abused by a paedophile in the past. "Did you really want to date a 16-year-old?”, he then asked the victim.
