Famed Dutch crime reporter Peter R. de Vries is reportedly clinging to life after getting shot on an Amsterdam street on Tuesday.
De Vries, a celebrity in the Netherlands known for exposing the criminal underworld, was blasted in the head shortly after leaving the studio of Dutch broadcaster RTL, police officials and the media network said.
Three suspects, including the possible gunman, were detained after the shooting, police said.
“He was seriously wounded and is fighting for his life,” Amsterdam Mayor Femke Halsema said in a televised news conference.
“He is a national hero to us all. A rare, courageous journalist who tirelessly sought justice.”
Peter R. de Vries was shot in the head in Amsterdam on Tuesday.MEGADe Vries, 64, frequently appears on crime shows in the Netherlands and is a well-sourced reporter with contacts in both law enforcement and the underworld.
People look on as police officers secure the area where de Vries was shot. Eva Plevier/Reuters
De Vries was walking out of the Dutch broadcaster RTL studio when he was shot. ANP/AFP via Getty Images
Amsterdam Mayor Femke Halsema called de Vries a “national hero.” ANP/AFP via Getty ImagesHe is well known for his investigative work on the 1983 kidnapping of the beer magnate Freddy Heineken.
In 2008, he won an international Emmy Award for his work investigating the 2005 disappearance of teenager Natalee Holloway in Aruba.
With Post wires
