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Police seek witnesses to shooting

Culprit fled through front door. 'Students are not very willing to report incidents'.

The police are looking for students who witnessed a shooting in the Tarthorst neighbourhood on Tuesday 5 February. A reward of 10,000 euros has been offered for a crucial tip. On 5 February a 33-year-old man was shot down in his own home behind the C1000 in the Tarthorst, close to the campus. The victim came home between 21.00 and 22.00. On entering the house he encountered the culprit, who shot him and fled through the front door. The man phoned the emergency services himself and survived the attack. There is no description of the culprit. There is however a 10,000 euro reward for a tip leading to his arrest. A survey among neighbours and passers-by has failed to unearth witnesses. But the police are still hoping that there are students who saw something of the incident. ‘The shooting took place on the routes cyclists take through the Tarthorst,’ says neighbourhood police officer Alex de Wit. ‘Of the cyclists who pass the spot, 80 percent are students.’ He therefore calls on students who saw or heard anything in the vicinity on the evening of 5 February to come forward. Other tips related to the shooting, which was featured on Opsporing Verzocht on TV on 19 March, are welcome. They can be passed on through the Tip Line (0800 6070), Misdaad Anoniem (0800 7000) or the neighbourhood police (0900 8844). Neighbourhood police officer Alex de Wit hopes students will report more often when they have been the victim of a crime or have tips about one. ‘You notice that students are not very willing to report incidents.’ He is not sure why that is. ‘Perhaps they feel more of a bond with their own social networks at the university than in the neighbourhood where they live.’ Yet it is useful to report incidents, says De Wit. Both for students themselves and for the police. ‘Seven thousand students are sure to know things we don’t.’

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