A man is accused of paying a 16-year-old boy to shoot someone, but the teenager shot himself instead.
A 26-year-old man from Katwijk, known as R.d.J., is facing trial after a tragic incident at Hofstad Lyceum school in The Hague that resulted in the death of a 16-year-old boy. Prosecutors accuse R.d.J. of offering three teenagers money to shoot someone, but the plan ended tragically when the boy accidentally shot himself inside the school.
According to court documents, R.d.J. promised the three teenagers – aged 15, 16, and 19 – €2,500 to shoot a stranger in the legs. On February 5, 2025, around 2:30 PM, the plan fell apart when a bullet accidentally fired in the school bathroom, resulting in the boy's death. Emergency services rushed to the scene, including a medical helicopter, but the boy died shortly after arriving at the hospital.
Initially, authorities believed that the boy had been stabbed or assaulted, and other teenagers were arrested. However, subsequent investigations revealed that it was not an external attack, but rather that the victim accidentally shot himself. Police say that R.d.J. provided the teenagers with weapons, cars, money, and even written instructions to carry out the assault, and he is also suspected of criminally exploiting the victim.
The 19-year-old man, known as S.W., testified that he was contacted via Snapchat and recruited as a driver. He admitted that he transported the boy and the weapon to Rotterdam on the night of February 4-5, but the plan failed after he was stopped by the police. He said in court: "I feel regret that he died. I am not a killer, and that is what I want to clarify." Meanwhile, the 15-year-old teenager, who is alleged to have coordinated parts of the plan, is scheduled to appear in a closed session in October.
Defense attorney Damian Ross argued that his client was not the mastermind. He said during a preliminary hearing: "The key question is whether he played a controlling role. According to the defense, the answer is: no." The next hearing is scheduled for December, with the full trial set to begin in January.
The incident shocked the community of Hofstad Lyceum, a high school with about a thousand students that is part of the UNESCO school network. The police who responded to the emergency reported that they found the boy with serious injuries to his head and face, causing panic and chaos within the school.