Police fire warning shot while arresting man with fake gun in Rotterdam
Nobody was hurt when officers arrested the man on the Grotekerkplein on Friday evening.
Police arrested a man carrying a fake firearm on the Grotekerkplein, the square by the Laurenskerk in central Rotterdam, on Friday evening, 16 October. Officers fired a warning shot because he did not cooperate with the arrest. Nobody was injured.
Police received a report shortly after 18:30 about a man said to be waving a firearm. Several units responded. When officers reached the square, the suspect did not cooperate.
Once the shot had been fired, the man was handcuffed. Police confiscated the imitation weapon. They said it could not be distinguished from a real firearm.
Fake weapons that look real are banned under the Wet wapens en munitie, the weapons and ammunition act.
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Wet wapens en munitie
The Dutch Weapons and Ammunition Act is the national law that regulates firearms, ammunition, and other weapons in the Netherlands. It sets out who may own, carry, or use weapons and which items are prohibited. Imitation weapons that look real are banned under this law.