Three minors arrested after 11-year-old girl threatened with replica gun in Uithoorn
Three minors were arrested after an incident in Uithoorn on Sunday in which an 11-year-old girl was repeatedly struck and threatened with what later proved to be a fake gun. The three suspects are two boys aged 11 and 14 from Amstelveen and one 12-year-old girl from Uithoorn.
The incident occurred on the Zijdelwaardplein when the 11-year-old girl from Uithoorn was approached immediately after leaving a supermarket at around 2:45 p.m.
The children forcibly took her and threatened her with an object resembling a firearm. The attack using the replica gun started after she refused to follow the three children’s instructions. She was hit several times on the head with the same object, sustaining injuries as a result. The suspects were swiftly tracked down and apprehended shortly afterward at a restaurant on Marijnenlaan.
Police recovered the gun-like object from one of the arrested children and confiscated it. It was later confirmed to be a replica firearm, looking very similar to a real gun but neither loaded nor operational.
The police said the case stemmed from a “long-standing conflict” between the victim and the suspects. Following their arrest, the suspects appeared before the deputy public prosecutor. The 11-year-old boy was released to his parents because of his age, while the other two remained in custody awaiting further legal action.
Police are continuing their investigation and are interviewing those involved as well as witnesses. This incident is part of a wider trend, with authorities expressing concern that weapons and violence, real and imitation, are increasingly involved in conflicts among young people, sparking broader worries about youth safety. For instance, national reports indicate a rise in weapon carrying among minors in the Netherlands.
