On Tuesday evening, an attacker fired five shots at de Vries just as the journalist was leaving the studio after appearing on the television show RTL Boulevard as a guest. The attacker fled the scene, and the journalist was taken to a local hospital in critical condition with gunshot wounds.
“Yesterday our worst nightmare became reality. We as a family surround Peter with love and hope during this difficult phase,” de Vries’s son Royce wrote on Twitter on Wednesday.
Two suspects have reportedly been arrested, including a possible shooter. They were stopped in a car about 30 miles south of the city. A third suspect was also detained in Amsterdam.
The Committee to Protect Journalists (CPJ) called on Dutch authorities to “swiftly and thoroughly investigate the shooting,” and “determine if he was targeted for his work, and ensure that the attacker and the masterminds of the attack face justice”.
“Journalists in the EU must be able to investigate crime and corruption without fearing for their safety,” the CPJ added.
De Vries is well-known for his coverage of organized crime and corruption in the Netherlands, and has for decades worked on numerous high-profile investigations to expose drug lords and other criminals. He has also helped police solve a number of high-profile criminal cases.
While the motive of the attack remains unclear, at the time of the shooting, de Vries was working as an advisor to the prosecution’s key witness in the trial of alleged drug kingpin Ridouan Taghi, which put him on a “criminal underworld hit list.”
The journalist has also previously received death threats over his coverage of the killing of a teenager in Rotterdam.
Dutch Prime Minister Mark Rutte said the journalist was “fighting for his life” on Wednesday, calling the shooting “shocking and inconceivable” at a news conference.
“It’s an attack on a courageous journalist and by extension an attack on the freedom of the press, which is so essential for our democracy and rule of law,” he said.
