Two 15-year-olds from Rotterdam and Gouda remain in police custody on Monday while the investigation into a fatbike theft and fatal shooting by police continues.

A third youngster, from Gouda, was shot dead by police at a McDonald’s fast food café in Capelle aan den IJssel on Sunday afternoon shortly after the fatbike was taken, allegedly at gunpoint.

The two are being held on suspicion of involvement in a violent robbery, a police spokesman told news agency ANP.

The 15-year-old who died was warned several times to hand himself over, the public prosecution department said on Monday. On mobile phone footage he can be seen running off, at which point he was shot, reportedly four times.

Police have not yet said if the gun the youth had was real or fake, but even carrying a fake weapon is a criminal offence in the Netherlands.

“The police and public prosecution department realise that there are many questions about exactly what happened,” the department said in a statement. “We need careful research to find answers and we will share more information as soon as we can.”

According to police figures, officers fired their weapons 13 times last year and one person died. In 2023 no-one was shot dead by police and in the preceding years, an average of three per year.

The last time a minor was killed by a police bullet was in 2012.

A study into police deaths in the period 2016 to 2020 by Bureau Beke found that around 10 people die every year in incidents involving the police. This figure also includes people who die in a cell, or because they have been drinking or taking drugs and come into contact with the police.