Residents of the small Gelderland village of Overasselt were finally allowed to step outside again just before midnight, after police lifted a lockdown order that had kept them confined to their houses. Officers said there was nothing to suggest that any suspects were still hiding out in the village, and the night that followed passed without further trouble. Justice Minister David van Weel described the attack as a level of violence the Netherlands has never witnessed before, and pointed the finger at international drug cartels operating across borders.
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A Village Under Siege
The chaos began around 4:00 a.m. on Tuesday, when a large crowd of armed men, their faces covered, moved through the streets of Overasselt.
Outside the house of a man reportedly tied to drug trafficking, one of them opened fire and killed a 51-year-old security guard from Wijchen. Not long after, the same group turned their weapons on police officers who had rushed to the scene, wounding two of them badly.
Police chief Janny Knol, speaking on the talk show Eva, said one officer was in critical condition and needed two rounds of surgery to survive.
She credited quick thinking from nearby colleagues for saving both officers' lives. According to Knol, the wounded officers were dragged into a car by fellow police who were driving right behind them, all while gunfire continued around them. Both injured officers are now said to be in stable condition.
Minister Points to Organized Crime, Dozens Arrested
Speaking to reporters, Van Weel said nothing in the country's recent history compares to what happened in Overasselt. He noted how alarming it was to see dozens of young men swarming a village's streets and firing on police without hesitation. While he stopped short of naming specific suspects, he suggested the attack looked like a criminal dispute being settled by force, tying it to mafia-style drug cartels that operate well beyond Dutch borders.
Over the co.
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