Multiple people opened fire on a group of people from a car in Weert on Thursday afternoon. The gunmen fled the scene in the car. No one was hurt, the Telegraaf reports.
The shooting happened at around 5:50 p.m. on Sint Jozefslaan.
The police are looking for witnesses.
A man was found dead “under suspicious circumstances” in an apartment in Weert, Limburg during the early hours of Friday morning. The police went to the man’s home on Zilvermeeuw at around 2:30 a.m. after a report that he had not been seen for several days, the Telegraaf reports.
The police are investigating exactly how the man died. The home is closed down as a crime scene.
The Netherlands escaped a terrorist attack that could've resulted in "dozens of victims" with the arrest of seven suspects in Arnhem and Weert in September last year, the Public Prosecutor said in court on Thursday - the first proforma hearing in this case. Only three of the six suspects still in detention were present at the hearing, AD reports.
A group of seven men arrested in September for planning terrorist attacks in the Netherlands, was considering Amsterdam Pride as a possible target, the main suspect said to an undercover police officer, RTL Nieuws reports based on information from multiple sources.
Members of a group arrested in September on suspicion of preparing for terrorist attacks in the Netherlands, received terrorism training at a holiday park in Weert on the day of their arrest. The training consisted of learning to use handguns and Kalashnikovs and fitting bomb vests, RTL Nieuws reports based on its own research and information from multiple sources.
The police infiltrated the group of seven suspects arrested last month for planning a major attack in the Netherlands. An undercover cop made contact with main suspect Hardi N., pretended to be an "attack planner" for terrorist organization Islamic State, and helped the group to plan their attack and arrange weapons, RTL Nieuws and NRC report.
Seven men suspected of preparing for a large terrorist attack in the Netherlands, will stay in custody for at least another 14 days, the court in Rotterdam decided. According ot the judge, there is sufficient evidence to extend their remand, NOS reports.
After the arrest of seven suspected terrorists in Arnhem and Weert on Thursday, the mayor of Weert is discussing extra security measures around the fair in the city with the police. It is known that the arrested men are suspected of planning a terrorist attack at an event in the Netherlands, but which event is still unclear, RTL Nieuws reports.
The youngest of the suspected terrorists arrested on Thursday, was previously arrested for taking selfies with F-16 fighter jets at the military airbase in Volkel, according to the Telegraaf. At that time 21-year-old Wail el A. was already once convicted for a failed attempt to travel to Syria and join a terrorist organization there, the newspaper writes.
The police released video footage of the arrests of seven men suspected of planning a terrorist attack in the Netherlands. The video shows SWAT teams raiding a white van in a parking lot and entering a home.
Beelden van de arrestaties in het terrorisme onderzoek. pic.twitter.com/ji5w3mLeCM
— Landelijke Eenheid (@PolitieLE) September 27, 2018
Seven men arrested on Thursday were "already a long way" into their plans to commit a terrorist attack in the Netherlands, according to Minister Ferdinand Grapperhaus of Justice and Security. "It is very intense that there are people walking around who have this planned for us", he said to RTL Nieuws.
"This is intense, but also good news", Grapperhaus said. "The police and the Public Prosecutor followed the men very closely. They were looking for AK47s and bomb belts, really terribly dangerous stuff."
The terrorism threat level in the Netherlands remains substantial at 4 on a scale of 5 after the arrest of seven suspected terrorists on Friday, the national coordinator for counter terrorism and security NCTV said, RTL Nieuws reports.
On Wednesday the Public Prosecutor demanded prison sentences up to nine years against the nine men suspected of involvement in a failed attempt to hijack a helicopter and break gang leader Benaouf A. out of the prison in Roermond. Some of the suspects are also facing charges of weapons possession and possession of stolen cars, NU.nl reports.
Dutch drug criminals are increasingly involved in making crystal meth. Over the past year, 10 crystal meth laboratories were dismantled in the Netherlands. "A few years ago, we hardly ever saw it", a police spokesperson said to NRC, calling 2018 a "turning point" in the production of meth.
The fire brigades in Noord-Brabant and Limburg had their hands more than full with multiple wildfires on Sunday. The fires were caused by continuing drought in the two provinces, RTL Nieuws reports.
In Budel a large wildfire had fire departments from the entire region busy on Sunday. A drone team was deployed to get a complete picture of the burning area. About 10 hectares burnt down.
Bosbrand Budel 2018-07-01 pic.twitter.com/R0sVQMr2eb
The police arrested a 24-year-old man from Weert for abducting a 6-year-old girl in the Limburg city last week. The girl was playing in a playground when the man spoke to her, grabbed her and bundled into the boot of his car. The girl was released a short time later.
Witnesses told 1Limburg that the girl kept screaming while in the trunk of the car. She was let out of the car a few streets away from the playground and ran home. The girl was very frightened, but otherwise unharmed.
A 6-year-old girl was abducted for a short time in Weert, Limburg on Wednesday evening. She was playing in a playground on Maastrichtstraat when an unknown man bundled her into the trunk of his car. She was found unharmed, but terribly shaken, a short time later, the police said in a statement.
A Dutch-Polish drug gang was busted in a combined effort by the Dutch, Polish and German police. The Dutch police raided multiple places in the south of the Netherlands on April 16th and 17th and arrested seven suspects. Another seven suspects were arrested in Poland. They are all suspected of being part of a criminal organization involved in drug trafficking and dealing in chemicals intended for the production of synthetic drugs, the police said on Friday.
The municipality of Weert is having a crisis debate on Wednesday regarding problems with criminal asylum seekers staying in the local asylum center. The municipality will discuss this issue with the central agency for the reception of asylum seekers COA, the Public Prosecutor, the police and the Repatriation and Departure Service, ANP reports.
Three people were arrested in the asylum center in Weert on Monday evening on suspicion of violence and vandalism. Initial reports stated that a man was threatening others with a firearm, but the police emphasize that this was not the case, the Telegraaf reports.
Sources told regional newspaper 1Limburg that tensions were high in the asylum center all day and that a man with a firearm threatened to shoot people. According to the police, this is not what happened and there was no question of a hostage situation.
The court in Den Bosch sentenced former police officer Mark M. to five years in prison on Monday afternoon. The 31-year-old man from Weert was found guilty of selling confidential police information to criminals for years, thereby earning at least 80 thousand euros. The sentence is equal to what the Public Prosecutor demanded.
The police arrested a 15-year-old boy at Eindhoven Central Station on Sunday on suspicion that he stabbed an underage resident of the asylum center in Weert earlier in the day. The victim was taken to hospital for treatment, the police said in a statement.
The stabbing happened around 5:00 p.m. The boy stabbed the asylum center resident and then fled by train to Eindhoven. He was arrested at the station and taken to a police station for questioning.
The police raided dozens of address in the south of the Netherlands and in Belgium on Tuesday as part of a major operation against synthetic drugs, called Operation Impact. Five people were arrested, three in Belgium, two in the Netherlands, NOS reports.
The operation involved the police, Public Prosecutor, Tax Authority, Koninklijke Marechaussee and dozens of municipalities. Raids were done in Mariahout, Tilburg, Waspik and Weert, based on information from ongoing investigations and reports to municipalities and hotlines.
The Ministry of Defense is launching an investigation into a former soldier being sexually abused in 1982, a spokesperson confirmed to ANP. Ex-soldier Ronald Vreeburg says that he was abused by five other soldiers at the Royal Military school in Weert, Limburg when he was 17 years old.
According to Vreeburg, he reported the abuse to the peloton leadership after it happened, but he was not taken seriously. In 2015 he spoke to the Inspector General of the Armed Forces, and was told that the case was past its statute of limitations, the news wire reports.
