Man Charged In Shooting That Killed Dutch Soldier, Injured 2 Others: Police

INDIANAPOLIS, IN — A man is charged with murder after three soldiers from the Netherlands were shot — one of them fatally — while visiting Indianapolis over the weekend, authorities said.

Cpl. Simmie Poetsema, 26, died after he was shot in the head at about 3:30 a.m. Saturday in the 100 block of South Meridian Street, according to police. Poetsema and the other victims were commandos in the Royal Netherlands Army who had been training at Muscatatuck Urban Training Center near Butlerville, authorities said.

Charged in the shooting is Shamar D. Duncan, 22, who faces one count of murder, two counts of attempted murder and one count of disorderly conduct, according to police.

“We are thankful to the numerous witnesses who stepped up and provided our investigators with vital information that led to the quick arrest of the suspect,” Indianapolis police Chief Randal Taylor said in a news release.

Poetsema and the other two victims had gone out to a downtown club and were on their way back to their hotel early Saturday morning when a fight broke out with another group of men in the area, according to the affidavit for the case. Shortly after the altercation, shots were fired from a passing truck, the affidavit said.

One witness told police he thought he saw one of the men involved in the fight pull out a black object but couldn’t tell what it was, according to the affidavit.

“When asked by Det. Taylor if he thought it was a gun, he said he couldn’t tell, but that was a thing he was ‘afraid of, considering this is America,’ " the affidavit said.

Poetsema died Monday and Duncan was taken into custody Wednesday, according to police. In addition to U.S. law enforcement, three detectives from the Royal Netherlands Marechaussee traveled to Indianapolis to gather information on the case, according to the Ministry of Defence of the Netherlands.

Poetsema’s body will return to the Netherlands this week, as will his wounded colleagues, according to the ministry. At his home base in Roosendaal, green berets observed his death with a moment of silence and established a dedicated space for remembrance, the ministry reported.

“Simmie was known by ‘his’ commandos as someone who more than anything wanted to help others,” according to the ministry, which added that Poetsema spent part of 2021 in Kabul, Afghanistan, where he helped evacuate hundreds of Dutch citizens and Afghans.