BRUSSELS — A lone attacker on Thursday killed a police officer and wounded another in a stabbing attack that two Belgian law officials said was suspected of being linked to terrorism. The suspect was shot and taken to a hospital.
Eric Van der Sypt of the federal prosecutor’s office told The Associated Press the suspect was injured by another police officer after the stabbing.
Van der Sypt added that investigators suspected the attack took place in a “terrorist context”. Prosecutors told AP they took the case because there was “a suspicion of a terrorist attack.”
“One of our patrols was attacked by a man armed with a knife,” police said, quoted by Le Soir newspaper. “The two police officers then called for reinforcements. An officer from another patrol used his firearm to neutralize the attacker.”
“The two injured police officers and the attacker were taken to the hospital,” police added.
Le Soir said one of the officers was stabbed in the neck and died from his injuries.
The newspaper Het Laatste Nieuws reported that the suspect went to a police station on Thursday morning and warned that he was about to kill an officer. The ACV police union said in a Facebook post it had information that a person went to the police earlier in the day and threatened to be attacked. She added that the judicial authorities had not arrested him.
According to Belgian media, during the attack at around 7:15 p.m., the attacker shouted “Allahu akbar”, the Arabic expression for “God is great”.
Belgian Prime Minister Alexander De Croo sent a message of condolences to the family and friends of the dead officer.
“Our police officers risk their lives every day to keep our citizens safe,” he said. “Today’s tragedy shows that once again.”
Interior Minister Annelies Verlinden said she was in contact with the Brussels mayor, police chief and security services to coordinate the response to the attack. “Such violence against our people is unacceptable,” she said.
Belgium has been hit by several terrorist attacks over the past decade, including a suicide bombing in 2016 that killed 32 people and injured hundreds more on the Brussels metro and airport.