NOS News•
The man suspected of the fatal shooting last month in Zwijndrecht denies that he went into hiding after his act to escape his sentence. According to his lawyer, 49-year-old Minh Nghia V. was a fugitive for weeks, but that was only because he was collecting money for his ex-girlfriend, who was seriously injured in the incident. Her 66-year-old mother was killed in the shooting.
V. was arrested on Saturday at the Kethel Bridge in Schiedam. The police had been looking for him for five weeks and had, among other things, offered a reward of 30,000 euros for the golden tip that would lead to his location.
Tip line
His lawyer now says that the suspect confessed immediately after his arrest that he was responsible for the fatal shooting. He would also have carried the number of the police tip line with him.
According to the lawyer, V. planned to report to the police or take his own life as soon as he had collected enough money for his ex-girlfriend. The advocate cannot say what amount it concerns and where the money is now.
A bystander filmed the arrest on the Kethel Bridge:
Police arrest suspect in fatal Zwijndrecht shooting
V. is very sorry for his act, according to his lawyer. “My client said he never intended to kill anyone that day. He wanted to talk to her again and never intended to hurt anyone.”
V., who comes from Vietnam and is nicknamed ‘Lucky’, has a long criminal record. He was convicted, among other things, of a violent robbery of a money runner in a shopping center in Zoetermeer. He was also involved in an attempted robbery in a Rotterdam shopping centre.
‘Monster’
It is clear that V. has expressly asked his lawyer to come forward with his story, because the suspect believes that he is wrongly portrayed as a monster. “He has said that now he wants them to impose a sentence, life imprisonment or whatever punishment. He will sign for that.”
V. is suspected of murder and attempted murder. He is said to have shot his 38-year-old ex-girlfriend and her mother in the parking lot of a shopping center in Zwijndrecht on January 21. The mother was killed in the process; his ex-girlfriend was seriously injured. She is now out of danger.
The Public Prosecution Service announced today that V. will be detained for longer and that it is still being investigated where he has been hiding in recent weeks.
