A Dutch commando has died of his injuries after being shot outside an Indianapolis hotel while off duty. He was one of three Dutch soldiers in the United States for training exercises who were injured in the shooting in the early hours of Saturday.
According to the Dutch Ministry of Defence, the other two victims are conscious and remain in hospital in stable condition.
Police believe the shooting followed an earlier disturbance in downtown Indianapolis but offered few details. City law enforcement is still investigating the shooting and has reported no arrests. An earlier police statement said detectives did not believe it was a “random act”.
According to local media, the incident happened around 3:30 a.m. (0730 GMT) on Saturday outside the Hampton Inn hotel in the city’s entertainment district, where the three soldiers had been staying.
Officials believe the shooting followed a previous altercation, including one or multiple other people at another location in the city. Dutch defence officials confirmed the soldiers had been off-duty at the time of the attack and that their families had been notified.
All three soldiers were members of the Commando Corps, one of the special operations units in the Netherlands armed forces.
According to the AP news agency, the Indiana National Guard said the soldiers had been training at the Muscatatuck Urban Training Center before visiting Indiana’s state capital at the end of their duty day.
As well as being used by the US Department of Defense, the Indiana military centre is used by the armed forces of the US’s international allies for training purposes.