This is the first photo of the drug-using Dutchman accused of shooting 11-year-old Solaine Thornton dead with a rifle as she sat on a swing in her garden in Brittany.
The withdrawn Dirk Raats could hardly be seen in the tiny country village of Saint Herbot where he had lived with his Belgian wife Marlene Van Hoof.
But neighbors have confirmed that this is the 71-year-old former teacher arrested Saturday night for the murder.
Described in the French press as ‘like a character from Asterix’, Raats appeared before a judge in the city of Brest last night.
The images of the Dutchman emerged when local residents revealed that Solaine’s mother was rocking her daughter when she died.
This is the first photo of the drug-taking Dutchman accused of shooting 11-year-old Solaine Thornton dead with a rifle as she sat on a swing in her garden in Brittany
The withdrawn Dirk Raats could hardly be seen in the tiny country village of Saint Herbot where he had lived with his Belgian wife Marlene Van Hoof. The 71-year-old has been formally charged with the murder of young Solaine Thornton and the attempted murder of her mother and father – Adrian and Rachael Thornton – who are originally from the Manchester area
In the photo: Marlene Van Hoof, the Belgian wife of Dirk Raats, is seen in her garden today. She has been accused of concealing Raats’ two weapons: a shotgun and a handgun
The Dutchman and the family had been in a long dispute over their adjoining land. Rachael told friends that several years ago, a neighbor threatened them with a gun after they cut down a hedge, claiming that it made his house visible to the public.
The pensioner is accused of being under the influence of drink and drugs when he fired a volley of shots at the family as they enjoyed an evening barbecue.
Solaine received a catastrophic gunshot wound to the heart while her father, now in a coma, was shot in the head and her mother in the back and head.
Both parents have had surgery.
Born in Antwerp in 1952, but described by French prosecutors as a Dutch citizen, he moved to France with his wife in 2017, but refused to learn French or participate in village life.
According to neighbours, he lived an unconventional lifestyle, leaving his French farm only for camping trips with his wife and dogs in his old Land Rover.
Yesterday he was formally charged with the murder of Solaine and the attempted murder of her father Adrian, 52, and mother Rachael, 49.
Her eight-year-old sister Celeste ran to safety, Mama Rachael yelled, “Run girls, run!”
Today, local residents said they were shocked by the heinous crime.
One of them told MailOnline: ‘I saw him, but never spoke to him. Nobody has. He spoke no French and rarely left his house.’
His wife Marlene Van Hoof was arrested with him following the Saturday night shooting after armed police surrounded the property.
She was accused of concealing Raats’ two weapons: a shotgun and a handgun. Raats had bought the weapons illegally and did not have a permit for them, it turned out. He barricaded himself in their house after the shooting.
Van Hoof was released last night and was back in her mansion today. She refused to speak when approached.
Solaine Thornton, 11, was shot and killed as she played on a swing with her sister in the garden of their family home around 10pm on Saturday
Pictured: Swings in the yard of the British family’s home in France
Local residents have described how the dispute turned into a tragedy, with a neighbor telling how Solaine’s younger sister – eight-year-old Celeste – was able to flee to safety. Raats was determined to kill the family, local residents said.
After the gunman opened fire and hit her sister, Celeste – who had been playing on a swing with Solaine – ran some 300 meters through her garden and up a village lane to Pierre Leroy’s house.
Celeste had dodged a bullet and ran upstairs for her life saying, ‘They killed my sister and the man shot my dad.’ We went straight there and the girl was dead and the mother was rocking her in her arms and screaming,” Thornton’s family friend told The Daily Telegraph.
Adrian also screamed, injured but conscious, but the mother, now stable but undergoing surgery, understood that it was too late for her daughter.
“There were no words, just screams,” said Mr. Leroy.
He told the newspaper that his wife accompanied the young girl to the hospital and stayed with her on Monday afternoon.
The family friend and another local, an 83-year-old retired soldier, told the publication they were both convinced the Dutchman wanted to kill the entire family.
Prosecutors suggested last night that the little girl was “not the target” of the shooting.
At a press conference on Monday, prosecutor Camille Miansoni said it did not appear that the Dutch neighbor was aiming at the girl when he fired the shot. He said, “It looks like he wasn’t aiming for the little girl.”
Solaine was enjoying the warm evening in the garden of their family home in the small hamlet of Saint-Herbot, Brittany, when the Dutch neighbor shot at them several times
The prosecutor also alleged that work by the family on a hedge separating the two properties “annoyed the suspect who later took a loaded .22 caliber rifle and fired three or four shots, killing three.”
Later that day, Solaine’s classmates hold a minute’s silence.
Solaine was a hugely popular grade 6 student at Jean Jaurès College, where a ‘medical monitoring team’ is on hand to care for her classmates.
“The feelings are very strong and there is a lot of sadness,” says a spokesman for the college. ‘There will be a minute’s silence on Tuesday so that students and staff can commemorate Solaine.’
Guylène Esnault, director of educational services in the Finistère department that covers Saint-Herbot, said: ‘This is a small area and everyone knows each other. The children will have heard what happened.
“The director of the university will say what is appropriate for her students, and there is a monitoring team with a doctor, nurses and psychiatrists.”
Mael de Calan, chairman of Finister’s departmental council, said there was ‘bewilderment and consternation following the murder of an 11-year-old schoolgirl.
Such a drama, between neighbours, reminds us that the increase in violence in our society must be fought unanimously.
“I extend my deepest condolences to the girl’s family and loved ones, and my most sincere thoughts to the teachers and students of Huelgoat college.”
Solaine was shot while playing in her yard around 10 p.m. Saturday night. The little girl’s grandfather said Monday she “didn’t stand a chance.”
Solaine Thornton was shot around 10 p.m. Saturday night. Her parents Adrien, 52, and Rachael, 49, were also reportedly shot
Police forensics at the crime scene after 11-year-old Solaine Thornton was shot dead while playing on a swing in her garden in the French village of Saint-Herbot
The Intervention Group of the National Gendarmerie tactical unit was called and a negotiator persuaded the pair to surrender
She and her family were enjoying the warm evening in the garden of their home in the hamlet of Saint-Herbot, near Quimper, when the Dutch neighbor shot at them several times, French prosecutors say.
Solaine’s sister Celeste is said to have raised the alarm when her parents were also shot.
“How is she going to get over that? It will stay with her forever,” Grandpa Irvin Thornton said of Solaine’s younger sister after the horrific ordeal.
The grandfather also revealed that his son Adrien is in a coma after being shot in the head. The mother Rachael was also reportedly shot twice in the head and back, while Celeste was said to be unharmed but in a state of shock.