The shooting incident on June 19, 2024 on the Oliemuldersweg in Groningen was preceded by a feud over the fatal accident on the Europaweg-Noord in Assen in 2022. The 19-year-old suspect from Groningen was involved in that fatal accident three years ago.
The Public Prosecution Service (OM) believes that the 19-year-old was guilty of attempted manslaughter last year and should be sentenced to three years in prison.
On February 13, 2022, the suspect, who was then a fifteen-year-old driver of a car on Europaweg-Noord in Assen, lost control. The car came to a stop against a tree. A 19-year-old passenger died on the spot. The driver was sentenced to six months of juvenile detention at the time, three months of which were conditional and a community service of 120 hours.
In April 2023, the suspect denied at the juvenile court in Assen that he was behind the wheel. Since then, several attacks have been committed at the teenager’s address in Groningen. This became apparent today during the substantive hearing in the case of the shooting incident last June.
The public prosecutor saw that there were indeed several reports of explosives at the suspect’s home. One didn’t explode, the other did. According to the suspect, nothing was ever done with those reports.
Shortly before the shooting incident, the suspect had been added to a Snapchat group. A compelling request was made for the suspect’s online location. He gave it, but at a gas station because there were cameras there, the suspect told the judge.
He hoped to find out who his threats were in this way, he said. The man took a gun with him that he had purchased after a burglary in his home. He reloaded the weapon for immediate use.
The suspect saw a boy wearing a balaclava approaching him at 10:30 p.m. He said the other man put his hand in his jacket pocket. The suspect did not wait and shot three times. His 17-year-old opponent fired once, and the gun jammed.
He hid in the bushes. He had a gunshot wound in his foot. In the meantime, the police responded to dozens of reports about the shooting incident in the neighborhood. The suspect also fled.
An ankle bracelet did not prevent the suspect from fleeing abroad. He cut the tie. The man was arrested in Italy on March 20 and extradited to the Netherlands.
The lawyer asked not to impose a penalty on the 19-year-old due to self-defence. The public prosecutor opposed this defense. “Both expected violence and armed themselves. Both chose confrontation,” the prosecutor said.
Shootings in residential areas increase feelings of insecurity in society, the public prosecutor said. “If everyone starts behaving like this, no one will be safe anymore.”
The now 18-year-old opponent from Groningen stood before the juvenile court on December 5. Due to the age of this suspect, that case was handled behind closed doors. He was sentenced to 293 days of juvenile detention for attempted serious assault, of which 240 days were conditional. And also a community service order of 95 hours.
The court will rule on January 9 in the case of the 19-year-old Groningen resident.