One injured in shooting at Groningen bar; Second bar shooting there in days
At least one person was injured in a shooting at a cafe in Groningen towards the end of Thursday afternoon. A gunman was still at large, police said. It was the second shooting at a bar in the city in five days.
The shooting on Thursday happened at about 5:30 p.m. on Siersteenlaan in the city's Vinkhuizen district. "One person was injured. The victim was rushed to a hospital," police confirmed. The individual's condition was not released, but a journalist at the scene reported he was seriously wounded.
The suspected gunman fled the scene. Police released a bulletin asking the public to be on the lookout for a 40 year old man with short black hair. He was wearing a dark blue shirt, a dark colored track suit, a black hat, and a fanny pack. Authorities said he might be of Turkish heritage, but did not specify why they thought this was the case.
Police in Groningen said anyone who sees someone matching that description should not approach the man. They should instead contact the authorities straight away.
It was the second time someone was shot at a Groningen bar in just a few days. A 37-year-old Groningen man was injured in an earlier shooting at about 5:50 a.m. in a bar on Peperstraat on Sunday. "The police investigation has now revealed that a conflict occurred prior to the shooting incident in the catering establishment," police confirmed shortly before the latest shooting.
Police arrested a 37-year-old man and a 49-year-old man in that case. The older man was released from custody, while the other man was remanded back to jail in a first hearing on Wednesday. He will remain in custody for at least two weeks.
Police did not draw a connection between the Peperstraat shooting and the Siersteenlaan shooting. An explosive was left in front of the Siersteenlaan location at about 4 a.m. on April 3. Security camera footage released by police showed the person in that case attempting to light the explosive three different times before running away. Smoke began to appear, but the device never detonated.
The device sat there for nearly seven hours until someone saw it and called police. No arrests were announced in that case. Investigators said they were searching for a person in a padded black jacket wearing black pants, but a precise description of the individual was never released.
