Dutch crime reporter Peter R. de Vries fighting for life after Amsterdam shooting
- Peter R. de Vries known for his work exposing the criminal underworld
- Three suspects were detained, including the possible shooter
One of the Netherlands’ best known crime reporters was shot Tuesday evening in a brazen attack in downtown Amsterdam and was fighting for his life in a hospital, the Dutch capital’s mayor said.
Peter R. de Vries, who is widely lauded for fearless reporting on the Dutch underworld, was shot after making one of his regular appearances on a current affairs television show. It was an unusually brutal attack on a journalist in the Netherlands.
“Peter R. de Vries is for all of us a national hero, an unusually courageous journalist, tirelessly seeking justice,” Mayor Femke Halsema said at a hastily convened news conference at the city’s police headquarters.
“Today, justice in our country appears a long way off. A brutal, cowardly crime has been committed,” Halsema added.
Police Chief Frank Paauw said two suspects were detained, “including a possible shooter” in a suspected getaway car stopped on a highway some 50km (30 miles) south of the city. A third suspect was detained in Amsterdam, he said.
There was no immediate word on a motive.
