Brussels came to a standstill after a gunman claiming to be a member of ISIS opened fire on a group of Swedish soccer fans, killing two people.
The gunman is said to have started shooting at fans walking along the Boulevard d’Ypres just minutes north of the city’s famous Grand Plaza.
The alleged attacker used the name “Slayem Slouma” to brag about the two murders on Facebook, adding that he wanted to avenge the killing of a six-year-old US-Palestinian boy.
He celebrated the massacre in Arabic and said he committed it in the name of ISIS.
Police confirmed that the man in the video – who was wearing an orange jacket, black scarf, yellow baseball cap and a thick black beard – was the one they were looking for in connection with the attack.
The Swedish national soccer team was scheduled to play against Belgium at Heysel Stadium later that evening, five kilometers away.
Police spokeswoman Ilse Vande Keere said officers soon arrived at the scene in Brussels and cordoned off the immediate neighborhood
The shooting comes at a time of heightened vigilance over the Israel-Hamas war, which has raised tensions in several European countries
An image of the man allegedly involved in today’s shooting in Brussels was captured using mobile phone footage
The man reportedly said he was avenging the stabbing attack of six-year-old US-Palestinian boy Wadea Al-Fayoume, who was stabbed to death in Plainfield, Illinois, on Saturday morning.
Police at the scene of a shooting on the Ieperlaan – Boulevard d’Ypres in Brussels
Belgian Prime Minister Alexander De Croo called on civilians to be vigilant and said: “My deepest condolences go out to the relatives of the cowardly attack in Brussels.”
Forensic investigators were at the crime scene in Brussels where two people were shot dead by a gunman
Players, fans and match officials observe a minute’s silence before the game between Belgium and Sweden at the King Baudouin Stadium
Harrowing bystander footage shows a man firing a large gun multiple times while screaming in Arabic as members of the public run for their lives.
The Belgian newspaper Het Laatste Nieuws reports that the shooter used an automatic rifle and fled the scene on his scooter.
He reportedly said he was avenging the knife attack of six-year-old US-Palestinian boy Wadea Al-Fayoume, who was stabbed to death in Plainfield, Illinois, on Saturday morning.
Wadea was stabbed 26 times and his mother, Hanaan Shahin, was stabbed over a dozen times by a man who allegedly shouted, “You Muslims must die!”
Joseph Czuba, 71, is charged with the boy’s murder.
The gunman was riding a moped and was heard by witnesses shouting “Allahu Akabar” – Arabic for “God is the greatest”.
An investigative source said: “He also shouted that he had carried out a revenge attack.” He shot at various people, hitting several of them. “This had all the hallmarks of a terrorist attack.”
The source said a video was also circulating on social media in which the attacker stated he had to “take revenge” by killing three people from Sweden.
“Two Swedish football fans died in a taxi after being attacked by the man, who then got away on his moped,” the source said.
The suspect, wearing a crash helmet and fluorescent jacket, brandished a Kalashnikov-style weapon and had also shot a man in the lobby of a nearby building.
Belgian Prime Minister Alexander De Croo called on civilians to be vigilant and said: “My deepest condolences go out to the relatives of the cowardly attack in Brussels.”
“I am monitoring developments together with the justice and interior ministers from the national crisis center.”
Rescue workers arrived in large numbers within minutes, but no suspect could be arrested.
The investigating source said: “The alleged perpetrator posted a video in which he is a member of ISIS.”
Belgian police officers from the forensic service search for evidence in a street after two people were killed
Police cordon off an area where a shooting took place in central Brussels
Investigators searched the crime scene left behind by a fleeing suspect, the Belgian capital’s public prosecutor’s office said
This photo shows the police area at the scene of a shooting on Ieperlaan – Boulevard d’Ypern
Belgian police secure the area after two people were shot dead in Brussels
Central Brussels came to a standstill after a lone gunman shot two people dead this evening
Belgian police are at the scene of a shooting
The claim was also published by Sudinfo, one of the largest news outlets in Belgium, which said the Facebook post showed the man “bragging about murdering infidels.”
It continues: “In his very violent speech, he said that he shot two people to avenge the Muslims and that we live and die for our religion.”
A Belgian government spokesman said representatives of the country’s security services, the prosecutor’s office and the cabinet had gathered at a crisis center to discuss the terrorist motive.
“All partners have actually been called together,” said Laura Demullier, spokeswoman for the state crisis center.
“Everyone is asked to come here as soon as possible to discuss the next step.”
Police spokeswoman Ilse Vande Keere said officers soon arrived at the scene and cordoned off the immediate neighborhood.
She declined to provide further details about the circumstances of the shooting.
There was also controversy in Sweden over Charlie Hebdo-style cartoons of the Prophet Mohammed.
A spokesman for the Brussels police said: “We are talking about two deaths, they are probably Swedish.”
There have been a number of terrorist attacks in Belgium in recent years – all linked to Islamist groups such as ISIS and Al-Qaeda.
Eight men have just been put on trial for their links to the 2016 suicide bombings that killed 32 people and injured hundreds at Brussels airport and a metro station.
In September, a Brussels court sentenced eight men to life imprisonment for the jihadist bombings in Brussels.
French citizen Salah Abdeslam and Belgian-Moroccan Mohamed Abrini – already sentenced to life in prison by France over the Paris massacre in November 2015 – were the most prominent of the six defendants found guilty of murder in July.
Abrini, who was one of the planned assassins but decided at the last moment not to blow himself up, was sentenced to 30 years in prison.
The court decided not to give Abdeslam any further prison time after he was sentenced to 20 years in prison for a shooting in Belgium in 2018.
The attacks – near NATO and EU headquarters – were part of a wave of attacks claimed by the Islamic State group in Europe.