Officer who shot man in Tiel home will not be prosecuted

The Public Prosecution Service (OM) in the East Netherlands region will not prosecute the police officer who shot a man in a home on the Lutterveldweg in Tiel on 22 April 2026. Based on the investigation by the Rijksrecherche, the OM concludes that the officer, a member of the arrest team (arrestatieteam, AT), acted in line with the Ambtsinstructie.

Police received a report just after 3 a.m. and found a man in the living room with a knife in his hand. He barely responded to officers, and they could not make contact with him. He behaved in a confused and restless way and injured himself with the knife. A taser used by police did not have the desired effect.

The officers waited for the arrest team, which arrived around 4 a.m. Several attempts to negotiate with the man had no effect. According to witnesses, the threatening situation continued and he became more aggressive and unpredictable. One witness said he also came across as alert and calculating.

The team then decided to intervene, first using less drastic means. During the action the man charged along the narrow hallway with his knife pointed at an AT member. The officer fired an aimed shot from at most 1 to 2 metres and hit the man in the neck. The man fell, and the incident ended there.

The man was taken to hospital and stayed there for some time. He has since left.

The OM concludes the shot was proportionate. It says the officer and his colleagues were in immediate danger of death, because the man came at them with a potentially lethal weapon and had closed to a short distance. Given the threat and the short distance, the OM says no other action could be expected of the officer.