Suspect in random Rotterdam slayings was caught after third shooting, but released
The suspect Rotterdam police arrested for the murders of three men over a 12-day killing spree was initially stopped by police at a store after the third shooting on Thursday morning. He was released because he did not fit the description police circulated that afternoon, but was later taken into custody for the execution-style murders, authorities said at a press conference in Rotterdam on Friday.
All three of the victims were shot in the head, confirmed Rotterdam Police Chief Fred Westerbeke. The victims were killed in "an unbelievably brutal manner," said Hugo Hillenaar, who leads the district office of the Public Prosecution Service, adding that the murders were truly "shocking." The suspect was caught on the basis of intelligence gathered from informants and tipsters, but Hillenaar said the source of the information was confidential.
The 24-year-old suspect was arrested at 11:15 p.m. on Thursday on Emelissedijk at the residence of a friend who was not taken into custody. It was not yet clear how they are connected to a 20-year-old Amsterdam man who was arrested on Monday in connection with the first two murders. The suspect was born in Curaçao and grew up in the Netherlands. He was previously arrested a handful of times for property crimes, such as theft and in connection with fencing a stolen scooter, said Rotterdam Police Chief Fred Westerbeke.
Four hours earlier, police responded to a tip and detained the suspect in a shop. Although he did not match the police description of a man with lighter skin complexion, police took down details about his identity. He also consented to police taking his photograph.
That interview took place at around 7 p.m. Then, at about 10 p.m., police reportedly found spent bullet casings on the street near a school on Herenoord. The location is a short walk from where the first victim was killed on Reyerdijk, and a few minutes from Emelissedijk, where the suspect was arrested.
When police raided the home on Emelissedijk, they also raided a second location at the same time. The suspect was caught on the basis of intelligence gathered from informants and tipsters, but Hillenaar said the source of the information was confidential.
Police found a firearm when they took the man into custody on a balcony. Westerbeke said that the photograph taken by police in the shop helped lead to the eventual arrest, because there was a closer match to better camera images secured from near one of the shootings.
The victims include a 63-year-old man who was shot on Reyerdijk on December 21, who died from his injuries two days later. A 58-year-old man was shot on Roelantpad on December 28, and died a few hours later at a hospital. An 81-year-old man was found shot in a flowerbed on Bommelwaard on the morning of January 2, and was pronounced dead at a hospital later that night.
Currently, the suspect is under investigation for murder or manslaughter in all three cases, as police continue to search for evidence of motive, planning, and whether the crimes were premeditated. He will also be charged with illegal possession of a firearm, Hillenaar said. The man is currently being held in restricted custody, and is only allowed to have contact with his attorney.
The suspect will be brought before an examining magistrate on Monday, who can order the man to remain in custody for up to 14 days while the case remains under investigation. Should he be remanded to jail, a three-judge panel at a district court can then decide to hold the suspect in pre-trial detention for successive periods of up to 90 days.
