A 26-year-old Amsterdam woman allegedly directed a 13-year-old boy to Hamburg to shoot a member of the Hells Angels, according to NOS.
Prosecutors stated during a court hearing that Melissa P. recruited several teenagers to carry out contract killings and severe violence. During a first court session, it was revealed they were even out to commit murders.
The 13-year-old suspect carried a firearm and ammunition when German police apprehended him in June after his mother reported him missing. The boy had picked up the weapon and ammunition at a restaurant shortly before his arrest. The boy told investigators he received an assignment to shoot someone in the leg for €2,000, though prosecutors charge the main suspect with preparing a murder.
A month after the Hamburg incident, Melissa P. allegedly directed an 18-year-old to shoot up a home in Wormerveer in broad daylight while children played outside, NOS reported.
Text messages presented in court showed the shooter noting that children were outside. But they are not playing in front of the door,
the 18-year-old messaged, to which Melissa P. replied, Okay just go.
Bullets tore through a mattress and a bunk bed inside a child’s bedroom during the attack.
Prosecutors linked the Amsterdam resident to a third case involving two Swedish teenagers arrested inside an Amsterdam hotel in March. A hotel security guard heard the sound of a firearm being loaded and alerted authorities.
The two Swedish teens had flown to the Netherlands to carry out a targeted killing. According to the OM, Melissa P. arranged phones, cars, firearms, and clothing for the pair. Prosecutors also suspect her of preparing a murder in this case.
Prosecutors described the criminal operations as exceptionally clumsy yet extremely dangerous. Young boys, untrained shooters, are sent out with heavy weapons, with all the risks that entail,
an official stated during the court proceedings.
Online recruitment of minors for explosives attacks and shootings has triggered concern among police and youth workers. Keerpunt, an online support platform for youths entangled in crime, noted that there are regularly cases with suspects of 13 or 14 years old.
Sjoerd van Bemmel, a team leader at Keerpunt, told the NOS that children are deployed for life-threatening assignments and often do not know which conflict they are entering while the organizers remain out of sight.
Keerpunt pointed to 4,500 explosive attacks in recent years, where on average one in three suspects was a minor. Researchers investigating online recruitment tactics found that criminals present assignments as ordinary side jobs.
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