Dutch police arrest 34 suspects after gangland shooting in rural village

Dutch police arrested 34 suspects following a huge manhunt on Tuesday after a man was fatally shot and two police officers were wounded in what appeared to be a gangland attack that involved some 30 masked men walking down a street in a rural village in the Netherlands.

The shooting occurred in the early hours of Tuesday morning in Overasselt, approximately 135 kilometres (85 miles) southeast of Amsterdam. Hours later, police urged local residents to stay indoors while they investigated the incident.

The two wounded police officers were recovering in hospital following the shooting. Details of their injuries were not released.

Security camera footage broadcast by Dutch newspaper De Telegraaf showed around 30 people, many wearing ski masks and carrying weapons, walking down a street before fleeing after an apparent shooting. Police said their probe includes analysing the video images.

Mayor Joerie Minses said that Overasselt “was shaken last night by a form of extreme violence that is completely unacceptable.”

National police chief Janny Knol said in a message on X that officers from across the country were investigating and had already detained “a large number” of suspects. She branded the violence “unprecedented.”

Prosecutors and police declined to comment on a possible motive.

Police said that the 34 people detained included people from the Netherlands, France, Belgium and Algeria. Their identities were not released and there were no immediate details of charges.

The Netherlands is a major destination for cocaine that arrives in ports large and small across the country. That has created an increasingly violent underworld of gangs. Criminal gangs operating in the country are also major producers of synthetic drugs.