Teenager that caused havoc with a fake air rifle at West Flemish campus sent to a psychiatric hospital
A young man that caused havoc on the campus of a West Flemish college of higher education in 2021 has been sent to a psychiatric hospital. The young man has psychiatric issues and has been judged too unsound of mind to stand trial. Instead, he will be interned at a psychiatric facility where he will be given treatment for his mental health issues. The young man’s mother had requested psychiatric help for her son several times prior to the incident at the Vives College of Higher Education in October 2021.
In October 2021 the young man, who is from the village of Desselgem, was spotted brandishing what appeared to be a riffle on the Vives Campus in Kortrijk (West Flanders). On his way to the college, he had shown the gun that was actually a replica to another student. The other student raised the alarm and police went to the campus in numbers. Around 4,000 students were told to remain inside as police searched for what they thought was an armed man. However, their search was to no avail.
Later the young man turned up in the nearby town of Waregem. His presence there led to schools and a supermarket being put under lockdown. He was eventually apprehended in the evening at Avelgem (West Flanders).
A court has now ruled that he should be interned at a psychiatric institution where he is to undergo treatment or his mental health issues.