The police chief says in NRC that the officer fired because he said he thought that the 16-year-old tractor driver wanted to drive into officers and he was “afraid for the safety” of his colleagues.
“I think it was a wrong estimate,” says Veldhuis. He points out in NRC that the case against 16-year-old Jouke, who was initially suspected of attempted murder, has been dropped. “Colleagues suspected him of using his tractor as a weapon. But that turns out to be wrong.” The chief commissioner informs that Jouke will get his tractor back and that the damage to the vehicle will be compensated.
On Thursday, Veldhuis told Dagblad van het Noorden that he was not yet ready for an assessment of the police’s actions. “But if the judgment is that the police action is not professional, we will report this to Jouke and his parents. Then I have to apologize for that too,” said the police chief.
An investigation by the National Criminal Investigation Service is still ongoing into the shooting of the officer, who is sick at home. The boy’s family planned to file a complaint against the officer, but has since announced that they will first talk to the detectives.