Two men were shot dead in Amsterdam after a shooting spree involving automatic weapon fire. Dutch authorities have released little information on the incident. Amsterdam’s mayor, Eberhard van der Laan, called the automatic weapons shooting spree a “wild west situation.”
The information released stated that two men, ages 21 and 28, were traveling in a Range Rover that was rammed by a silver Audi. The victims were then killed in a rain of automatic weapons fire from a man wearing a balaclava who got out of the Audi. The authorities said the two victims were “known to police.”
Two motorcycle police officers gave chase to the shooter’s car after the incident and the two officers were also injured by automatic weapons fire. Dutch authorities stated the Range Rover had French license plates and that the Audi-driving shooter was able to flee without a trace.
This shooting occurred ten days after another shooting spree that left two men dead. The Netherlands has restrictive gun laws and the automatic weapons used in the December 29, 2012 incident were outlawed and unavailable to law-abiding citizens.