A regular guest of Café De Oale Poort is on Monday afternoon in front of the café on Bentheimerstraat in Coevorden. When asked if he got something from the stabbing that took place on the corner of the street last weekend, he is clear: “I was there myself.”
Still in disbelief, the Coevordenaar, who would rather stay anonymous, tells about the drama that took place in front of the cafe in the night from Saturday to Sunday.
“I came back from a festival in Dalen that night and then went into the cafe,” he says. In the cafe it is pleasantly busy at that time, until a young woman runs in just a little before three o’clock. “She shouted that someone waved a knife on the street,” he says. “I immediately went outside, but then it had already happened.”
At that time, the 22-year-old victim stumbled in the direction of the cafe and dropped for one of the picnic tables at the cafe. “There was blood everywhere,” he swallows. While two other guests from the café provide first aid, he calls the emergency number himself. When he hears in which direction the perpetrators have fled, he decides to run after it, with the phone on his ear. “The police then said that I could strike the pursuit better.”
On Monday afternoon, the police announced that a minor boy from Emmen was arrested for the stabbing. The Coevordenaar shakes his head. “Coevorden does not have a good name, it is getting worse here.”
He refers to the shooting a month ago, with a 21-year-old man from Emmen being shot. Also that incident was in the center of Coevorden.
Although the stabbing was not in the cafe, but on the corner of the street, the café wants to increase safety in their own café by entering bags controls. “You don’t know what they have in people with small bags,” says owner Isabel Meijering. “We want to start with that this weekend.”