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Dutch crime reporter was badly injured in Amsterdam street

The mayor of Amsterdam said that one of the most prominent Dutch crime reporters was killed in an attack on downtown Amsterdam Tuesday evening. He was being treated in hospital.

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Dutch crime reporter was badly injured in Amsterdam street

Peter R. de Vries was widely praised for his fearless reporting about the Dutch underworld. He was shot following one of his regular television appearances. This was an unusually brutal attack against a Dutch journalist.

Mayor Femke Halsema stated that Peter R. de Vries was a national hero and a courageous journalist who tirelessly sought justice.

"Today justice in our country seems a long way away. Halsema said that a brutal and cowardly committed crime was committed.

Frank Paauw, Chief of Police, said that two suspects were taken into custody. He also stated that a getaway car suspected to be used as a gun was found on a highway 50 km (30 miles) south from the city. He said that a third suspect was also detained in Amsterdam.

It was not immediately clear what the motive might be.

De Vries was long considered a potential target by the criminals to whom he relentlessly reported. Prosecutors and police declined to comment Tuesday night on whether De Vries, 64, received protection from the police.

Mark Rutte, Caretaker Prime Minister, called the shooting "shocking" and "incomprehensible".

Rutte stated, "An attack upon a brave journalist and also an assault on the free journalism which is so essential to our democracy, constitutional state, and our society."

De Vries was recently acting as an advisor and confidant for a witness in the major trial of an alleged leader of a crime gang that police called an "oiled killing machine."

Ridouan Taghi (a suspected leader of gangland gangs) was extradited from Dubai to the Netherlands in 2019. He is currently being held in jail as he faces trial with 16 others.

King Willem-Alexander, his wife Queen Maxima, tweeted support. They said that journalists must be free to do their important work without threat.

In 2008, De Vries was awarded an International Emmy for his television program about Natalee Holloway, a U.S. teenage girl who disappeared while on vacation in Aruba (the Dutch Caribbean island).

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