Abdesalem Lassoued, the man suspected of opening fire with a Kalashnikov on the Boulevard d’Ypres in central Brussels at around 7pm yesterday, has died. He was spotted in Schaerbeek this morning after a night escape. A witness recognized him in a bar and alerted the police: a firefight broke out and the man was injured. He was taken to hospital and died shortly afterwards. When his apartment was searched, several weapons were found. The Belgian Prime Minister explained that the suspect was a 45-year-old who was “of Tunisian origin and is in the country illegally.” The man killed two people yesterday. The victims were Swedish citizens (perhaps fans who were supposed to attend the Belgium-Sweden match, which was initially suspended and then cancelled). In videos posted online by some passers-by, the killer, wearing an orange jacket, arrives on a scooter, gets out of the vehicle and reaches for his weapon. He would shout “Allah Akhbar”. He chased the two victims into the hall of a building, then returned to the street and shot at the cars. Finally he drove off on a scooter and fled. The suspected attacker also posted a video on social media in which he claimed responsibility for the attack. “I avenged the Muslims,” he said in the video, claiming to be “a mujahideen of ISIS.” Two more people are still being sought.
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