Attack Peter R. is far from forgotten in the Lange Leidsedwarsstraat: “It was so moving”

On July 6, 2021, crime reporter Peter R. de Vries was shot in the long Leidsedwarsstraat. This happened after a broadcast of the TV program RTL Boulevard, when he walked from the studio on Leidseplein to the parking garage.

“The bangs almost flew around your ears,” says a local resident who was working around the corner when it happened. “Camera crews, police, ambulance drove by at a bloody pace, then I heard that Peter had been shot.”

A resident of the street still remembers the shots and the chaotic situation that followed: “You couldn’t do much, everything was reasonably closed for investigation.” Another resident was happy that no one from her family was home that evening: “I was at an exam drink and my parents were not at home either. At that drink it went around quickly and then I saw that it was in my street That was a bit of a shock, but luckily none of us was home.”

Local residents quickly realized that it was Peter R. de Vries because he often walked through the street. He was a regular guest in the TV program RTL Boulevard, which was then recorded in a studio on Leidseplein. After the broadcast, he always walked without security towards his car, which was parked in a garage in the Lange Leidsedwarsstraat.

Many people who now walk or cycle through the street remember the images of the attack and the sea of ​​flowers that followed. “Coincidentally, I am walking here with a colleague and I think it must have happened here.” A cyclist says: “Every time I cycle down this street I think oh yes here it was.”

First substantive session

With the help of CCTV footage, the police managed to arrest two suspects soon after the attack. They will appear in court on Tuesday 7 June during the first substantive hearing.

If it is up to local residents, those involved will receive a hefty penalty. “I think they should certainly get life sentences and that there should be a more violent solution for those who are at the root of the problem.”

Another resident of the neighborhood also clearly says what she thinks about it: “I hope they can rot away, if you can do something like that to someone, you deserve something serious. Whatever that may be. That it may last a long time.” In particular, it is hoped that the ruling will do justice to the relatives: “I hope that relatives can agree with the ruling, which is almost impossible.”