Authorities have confirmed that the individual shot by police on Monday in Rotterdam-Hoogvliet was a 59-year-old resident of Brielle. According to the Public Prosecution Service (OM), officers responded to a report of a firearm-related threat; the man was wounded and transported to a hospital. It was at least the sixth time in the last month that Dutch police have fired a shot on duty. All of the incidents remain under investigation to determine if police force was justified.

The incident took place on Middenbaan Noord, in a parking area near a shopping center in Hoogvliet. Police responded after a report of a firearm-related threat in the late afternoon. Because the suspect was possibly armed, officers used the Benaderingstechniek Gevaarlijke Personen (BTGP), a procedure for approaching dangerous individuals. Under this specialized protocol, officers issue commanding instructions from a safe distance with drawn weapons. During the operation, police fired aimed shots.

Several suspects have been injured over the last few weeks as a result of a shooting by the police. A man, 46, was shot by police in Goes on April 26 after a police chase. This was four days after police had wounded a man experiencing mental distress inside a residence on Lutterveldweg in Tiel after he reportedly threatened police and specialized response units with a knife. He was wounded and transported to the hospital for treatment.

There have also been several incidents of police using their firearms without causing injury in recent weeks. Officers fired warning shots during the arrest of a suspect on Nieuwe Tielseweg three days prior to the incident involving the man from Brielle. Police also fired their weapons when they were called to Hoofdstraat, Landgraaf on April 16 after reports of gunfire.

A warning shot was also fired during an arrest at an unknown location on April 6. An officer discharged a warning shot while arresting three men suspected of possessing firearms in an effort to de-escalate and regain control of the situation.

In line with standard procedure for police shooting cases, the Rijksrecherche has launched an inquiry into how the officers acted during the incident. The Rijksrecherche is legally required to conduct a transparent and impartial inquiry whenever a person is killed or seriously injured during contact with the police, such as in cases of fatal shootings or deaths in custody.

According to recent annual statistics from the Dutch Police, police officers are facing rising levels of serious aggression, with almost 13,000 recorded incidents of violence against them last year. In high-risk situations, particularly those involving weapons, this has increasingly resulted in the deployment of service weapons under official force protocols.

This comes after police had reported that the number of incidents involving police violence in 2024 was stable. At the time, use of firearms had decreased, with 36,151 reported incidents.