“Around 7:30 p.m. we received a report of a shooting on Gulden Vlieslaan,” reports Brussels police spokesperson Ilse Van de Keerse. “Our services immediately went to the scene. A perimeter was set up. We are currently making the determinations. At the current stage there are no indications that this was an act of terrorism.”
When the police teams arrived, the perpetrator or perpetrators were no longer on the scene. Several ambulances arrived on the scene to care for the injured. The mayor of Ixelles, Christos Doulkeridis, also went to the scene to assess the situation.
According to our information, a group was standing in the pedestrian zone on the street side of Gulden Vlies when a man suddenly approached them, pulled out a weapon and fired at them from close range. Everyone in the area fled, after which the perpetrator gave chase to the fleeing victims. He followed them for a while with his weapon at the ready.
© REUTERS
Swedish woman injured
Three of the injured were also found in three different places: one at a café in Gulden Vlieslaan, a second right on the Kleine Brussels Ring opposite the Apple Store a little further away and a third in Ridderstraat. One victim is said to have broken his ankle during the flight, and at least two others were reportedly hit by a bullet. A woman was said to have been shot in the knee.
Among the injured is a Swedish woman who works as an employee of the Swedish Moderate Union Party (‘Moderaterna’). This is what SVT, the Swedish public broadcaster, reports based on information from the Swedish Ministry of Foreign Affairs.
© rr
The man in his thirties is said to be out of danger at the moment, writes Tomas Tobé of the Moderate Union Party on X. “One of our employees was injured in a shooting in Brussels. Horrible. The person in question is currently being treated, the situation is not considered critical. Family members of the person have been notified.”
“For the time being, there is no indication of an act of terrorism”
“After learning of the facts, the public prosecutor requested an investigating judge for attempted manslaughter,” the Brussels public prosecutor’s office reports in a press release. “The investigating judge will arrive on site this evening in the presence of the public prosecutor, the federal police laboratory and the ballistics expert.”
“At the moment, nothing seems to indicate that this is an act of terror,” Mayor of Ixelles Christos Doulkeridis (Ecolo) told our reporter on the spot. A statement that was also confirmed by the public prosecutor’s office. “According to the initial findings, this is a settlement and not an act of terror,” it said.
The attack may have been drug-related. The person who was most seriously injured in the shooting was probably the target of a settlement, but the investigation should provide more clarity about this. The Brussels public prosecutor’s office will provide an update on the facts tomorrow morning.
© REUTERS