Rapper Gondilio Lowland (19) shot dead on Dolingadreef

Gondilio Lowland, a 19-year-old rapper from Amsterdam-Zuidoost known as Bolle and a member of the rap group Sevengang, was shot dead on Wednesday, 10 October 2018, in the underpass of Dolingadreef in the Bijlmer. The shooting happened in broad daylight, at around 15:25, close to his home. Gondilio was hit in the abdomen and seriously injured. Emergency services tried to save him and he was taken to hospital, but he died there from his injuries. The gunman fled after the shooting. A day later, Ogilvan J., then 20 years old and a neighbourhood acquaintance of Gondilio, was arrested after his mother called the police to report that her son may have been involved. According to the court, Ogilvan J. had confessed shortly after the shooting to his mother and aunt that he had shot Gondilio. He later withdrew that confession and continued to deny involvement. The court established that he was the shooter based on camera footage, intercepted phone calls and witness statements. The motive remained unclear. The perpetrator and the victim knew each other and had previously been friends, but why Ogilvan J. opened fire on Gondilio that afternoon was never fully established during the trial. People in the area spoke of an argument, possibly over a girl, but the court could not determine a clear motive. The Public Prosecution Service demanded a 14-year prison sentence for manslaughter. The court ruled that it could not be proven that Ogilvan J. had planned in advance to kill Gondilio, so he was not convicted of murder but of manslaughter. On 14 November 2019, Ogilvan J. was sentenced to 12 years in prison for shooting Gondilio Lowland dead. The court considered it especially serious that he had fired a gun in broad daylight in a residential neighbourhood and that he did not take responsibility for his actions. The death of Gondilio Lowland was seen by his family and community as an example of how quickly conflicts between young people can escalate when firearms are involved. His relatives described him as an ambitious young rapper, someone deeply involved in music, with many unreleased songs still waiting to be heard.