The man was detained in the National Juvenile Detention Center Den Hey-Acker in Breda. The detainee was working outside the institution and then took two people from the Judicial Institutions Service (DJI) hostage.
“They drove to Belgium under threat of a weapon,” the Antwerp prosecutor’s office writes in a press statement. “The 21-year-old man let the two hostages out of the car near Hoogstraten.” Shortly afterwards, the car was forced to stop by the Belgian police. “The man in his twenties stopped between the intersections of Heihoefke and Kraaienhorst in Sint-Lenaarts (Brecht), after which a shooting incident took place. Shots were fired by both sides,” said the prosecutor.
The police officers present immediately started CPR, which was taken over by the medical emergency services, according to the public prosecutor. No other people were injured. “The stress team of the federal police was called in to provide psychological support to the inspectors involved.”
An autopsy will be performed on the victim’s body. An investigation into the hostage-taking and shooting is underway.