Two people were killed in a gun attack in the north of Brussels on Monday evening. The victims were Swedish citizens, as Belgian Prime Minister Alexander De Croo explained on the online network X (formerly Twitter). The alleged perpetrator was initially on the run; the investigation was handed over to the federal public prosecutor’s office responsible for terrorism.
The crime occurred shortly after 7 p.m. near Place Sainctelette in the north of the Belgian capital, immediately before a European Championship qualifier between Belgium and Sweden at the King Badouin Stadium in Brussels. According to several media reports, the victims were Swedish fans.
The soccer game in the stadium five kilometers from the crime scene was stopped shortly after the shots were fired during half-time with the score at 1-1. According to Belgian broadcaster RTBF, the Swedish players did not want to continue the game given the events.
Prime Minister De Croo called on the residents of the Belgian capital to be vigilant. He was in the national crisis center together with the Minister of Justice and the Minister of the Interior, he explained in the online service
Investigators said that a confessional video in which a man spoke in Arabic was circulating online. In another video published on the website of the Flemish newspaper Het Laatste Nieuws, the suspected shooter, wearing an orange neon jacket, can be seen shouldering an automatic weapon and driving away on a scooter. At least four shots can be heard at the same time.
In the evening, EU Commission President Ursula von der Leyen condemned the “heinous attack” and expressed her condolences to the families of the victims. Italy’s Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni made similar comments. “Italy strongly condemns all forms of violence, fanaticism and terrorism and expresses its deepest sympathy to the victims and their families,” it said in a statement.
France’s Interior Minister Gérald Darmanin announced that he wanted to tighten border controls with neighboring Belgium. On Friday, a French teacher was killed by a radicalized former student at a school in northern France. Since then, the highest alert level has been in effect in the country.
Belgium has been the target of terrorist attacks several times in recent years. On March 22, 2016, three suicide bombers blew themselves up at the airport and in a subway station in the capital Brussels. 35 people were killed and almost 700 others were injured. The Islamic State (IS) jihadist militia claimed responsibility for the crimes.
In November 2022, also in Brussels, a man armed with a knife attacked two police officers, killing one of them and seriously injuring the other. The federal prosecutor’s office opened an investigation.
Note: This article has been updated several times.
