The Public Prosecution Service demanded a seven-year prison sentence on Friday against 29-year-old DM from The Hague for a shooting at a café in the Laak district of The Hague on July 2, 2023. The suspect shot his intended victim six times on his birthday, who was unharmed. managed to escape.
Row
The shooting took place early on Sunday morning of July 2 in front of Café Reina on Goeverneurlaan in The Hague. The violent incident was preceded by an argument, which probably revolved around the victim’s girlfriend. After the café closes, the argument continues on the street. There is pushing and shouting, until an unknown friend of suspect DM throws a punch at the victim.
Converted gas pistol
Then things escalate in a split second. The 29-year-old resident of The Hague pulls out a firearm (a converted gas pistol from the Zokari brand), aims at the victim, who starts running and then fires six bullets. A group of about 20 bystanders back away or flee back into the cafe, while the victim disappears unharmed around the corner. “But he could just as easily have been left there in a pool of blood,” the prosecutor said in the indictment on Friday.
Birthday
The suspect then gets into his car and goes home to sleep. “As if it was a completely normal start to – after all – his birthday,” the Public Prosecution Service said. When the police later searched his home, the firearm was still on the bedside table next to his bed. Furthermore, 84 grams of cocaine and 260 ecstasy pills were found in the house and the basement box.
‘The suspect went to bed like a sheriff in a bad B-movie,’ said the prosecutor at the hearing, ‘with the gun next to his head. It all seems like the most normal thing in the world to him. While the victim had to fear for his life and probably still does. And these were also very frightening moments for the bystanders.’
The Public Prosecution Service demands seven years against DM for attempted manslaughter, drug trafficking and weapons possession. The court will make its ruling in two weeks.
