The police arrested a second suspect on Monday in the investigation into the Erasmus shooting that killed three people at the end of September. It concerns a 21-year-old man from The Hague who is linked to a firearm that main suspect Fouad L. (32) had in hand.
The man came into the picture as a result of a DNA match. According to the police, his DNA was on ‘one of the firearms’ that L. owned at the time of the tragedy. It is unclear how many weapons the Rotterdam resident actually carried.
The arrested man is still in custody. The police cannot say whether he is seen as the person who may have supplied weapons to L.
However, the Public Prosecution Service (OM) previously announced that the investigation is still in full swing, despite L.’s confessional statements. For example, an attempt is being made to find out how the shooter obtained his firearms. Monday’s arrest may represent a breakthrough for that part of the investigation.
Medical student
The main suspect in the case is Fouad L. He is suspected of triple murder, arson and prohibited possession of weapons. On September 28, L. is said to have first shot dead his neighbor Marlous (39) and her daughter Romy (14) at Heiman Dullaertplein in the Delfshaven district of Rotterdam. The medical student then moved to the nearby Erasmus Medical Center, where he shot dead teacher and general practitioner Jurgen Damen (43).
Immediately after the tragedy on September 28, a detective team led by two public prosecutors started an investigation. The suspect has been interviewed several times, as have dozens of witnesses. Traces and camera images have also been secured. Together this should provide an image of the fatal day. The police have not released much information about the status of the investigation. More will probably be known about this during the first preparatory hearing in the case. It is scheduled for January 15.
Animal abuse
The Public Prosecution Service had warned Erasmus MC, where L. studied, about the suspect earlier this year. This is because of ‘serious doubts’ about whether L. should receive his diploma as a medical doctor. The Rotterdam resident had previously been convicted of animal abuse.
After that warning, the examination committee decided that L. had to undergo a psychological examination before receiving his medical certificate. L. expressed some frustration about this on internet forums.
Rabbit kicking
L. already had to answer to the police judge in 2021 for kicking a rabbit and shooting a pigeon. The judge considered only the first fact proven and sentenced the Rotterdam resident to forty hours of community service. Later the police arrested him for allegedly abusing a dog. The man is said to struggle with alcohol addiction and has Asperger’s syndrome.
His neighbor in particular, one of the three victims, raised the alarm several times in recent years about the way in which the murder suspect treated animals. It is not clear what the precise relationship between L. and the deceased teacher was.
More stories about the Erasmus shooting:
– The pain of local residents and family goes through the marrow and bone. How the death of a neighbor tears a Rotterdam street apart with grief in no time.
– A reconstruction of the drama that took place on September 28. From the shooting of his 14-year-old neighbor Romy to his arrest under the helipad: Fouad L.’s terror lasted for 45 minutes in Rotterdam on Thursday afternoon.
– A portrait of the main suspect Fouad L. Well-known to the police, infamous in the neighborhood, but invisible to the rest of the world. “We had a dangerous, miserable childhood.”
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