A youth prisoner (21) from the Den Hey-Acker institution in Breda escaped on Wednesday afternoon and was shot dead in Belgium. The escape was preceded by a hostage situation, confirms the Judicial Institutions Service (DJI). The Dutch detainee had forced two employees of the Breda juvenile detention center to get into his getaway car under threat of a firearm.
The incident happened on Wednesday afternoon in Breda, while the youth prisoner was working outside the walls of the institution. Somehow he had a firearm with him. According to DJI, it is being investigated whether it is a weapon of the employees of the juvenile detention center.
The young man forced the staff to get into a car. It may be a car belonging to one of the prison employees.
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Employees physically unharmed
Just across the border with Belgium, in the center of Hoogstraten, the two employees had to get out of the car. They were physically unharmed. “That is very nice, but they thought it was super intense to experience,” said the spokesperson.
During the flight action, the Dutch police alerted their colleagues in Belgium. They chased the boy to the village of Sint-Lenaarts, where he encountered a police blockade around four o’clock.
Boy shot at police
According to a witness who Gazette of Antwerp spoke, the boy was the first to shoot at the Belgian officers. “A Peugeot with a Dutch number plate drove over the bridge from Rijkevorsel at high speeds, being chased by the police. In the middle of Mallebaan, the driver came to a stop, got out and started firing at the oncoming police,” the newspaper said.
According to GvA, the police returned fire and the young man was fatally shot. “It was all very intense, especially because we were close by. At least thirty shots were fired,” said the witness. Another tells that the prisoner was driving on footpaths and at high speed on the wrong side of the road. “We just managed to avoid him.”
An attempt was made to resuscitate the man, but to no avail.
It is unknown why the young man was detained in Breda. Young people between the ages of 14 and 21 reside in a youth institution.
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