- Dutch InvestigativInvestigative Journalist Peter R. De Vries shot dead in Lange Leidsedwarsstraat, in Centrum, Amsterdam
- Video of Peter R. De Vries shooting emerged on social media and gone viral
- The possible shooter has been arrested by the police
Dutch Crime journalist Peter R. de Vries was shot in the Lange Leidsedwarsstraat on Tuesday evening, July 6, 2021. He was taken to hospital with serious injuries. Several sources confirm that a suspect has been arrested on the A2 near Breukelen. Watch the video of the arrest of Peter R. de Vries’ possible shooter, below. (The video of Peter R. De Vries shooter was shared on Twitter by an eyewitness).
According to unconfirmed reports, the crime journalist, Peter R. De Vries, was shot in the head at close range. The shooting took place around 7:30 pm in Lange Leidsedwarsstraat, around the corner from Leidseplein where the television program RTL Boulevard is being recorded. Peter R. de Vries was a guest there tonight.
Several shots were said to have been fired. A video recorded just after the shooting shows that De Vries is seriously injured on the ground. Due to its graphic nature, We can’t upload the video of, Peter R. De Vries’ shooting and aftermath, here. But you can watch the video of shooting and aftermath on Twitter by going on this link.
According to further details, Police were looking in the area for a light-skinned man with a slight build, a dark green jacket with camouflage spots and a black cap. People were asked not to approach him themselves and to call 911 if they see him. The man now appears to have been arrested.
Peter R. de Vries shooting Incident
An eyewitness who lives in Lange Leidsedwarsstraat heard five shots. She went outside and saw Peter R. de Vries lying on the floor. He had a lot of blood on his face. She held his hand. She couldn’t talk to him, but he was still alive. He was then taken to hospital. According to RTL, there is a lot of security on the leg in and around the hospital.
Another local resident was sitting in a cafe in Korte Leidsedwarsstraat and suddenly heard loud bangs. “It went on and on, four or five times. At first I thought it was fireworks,” she says. When she walked to the Lange Leidsedwarsstraat, where she lives, she was shocked. “The street was completely full of people. Someone shouted that someone had been shot.”
“This is what you’ve been hoping all along that doesn’t happen,” says Thomas Bruning, general secretary of the Dutch Association of Journalists, audibly shaken. “Of course it remains to be seen which activities of De Vries this is related to, but the attack took place in front of RTL Boulevard. This hits journalism right in the face. Let’s hope and pray for his health.”
RTL Boulevard
De Vries was a guest at RTL Boulevard tonight to talk about the case of Seif Ahmed, a hairdresser who was shot dead in his car in 2019. Ahmed’s 14-month-old daughter sat in the back seat. “Hopefully she didn’t realize what happened,” said De Vries.
Peter was Receiving Threats
The house of Peter R. de Vries has been guarded by the police in the past, he told AD in 2017 . “They had serious information that something was about to happen. And then at night there was a car in front of the door, people with bulletproof vests in it, you name it. So we have accepted that. We then noticed that we could deal with that, but that it had a huge impact on the neighbors. They no longer let their children play outside, they were afraid that the bullets could fly around at any moment.”
Threats didn’t matter to him,’ said De Vries. “I’m not reporting it either, I’m really not going to spend any time on it.”
Last month, De Vries was interviewed by Vrij Nederland . In it he said, among other things, that he is not afraid, but that ‘Nabil’s brother and his former lawyer were murdered, so you don’t have to be hysterical to think that something could well happen. That’s part of the job. A crime reporter who comes up at really tense moments with ‘now it’s getting a bit too intense for me’ would be better off working at Libelle.’