The 30-year-old man who injured three people with a knife in the Schuman metro station in Brussels on Monday evening will remain in jail for at least a month. This was decided by the Brussels council chamber on Friday. The man was placed under an arrest warrant by the investigating judge and charged with attempted murder and illegal possession of weapons. The investigating judge also appointed an expert to conduct a psychiatric examination of the suspect.
The stabbing took place on Monday around 5:45 p.m. in a metro train that entered the Schuman metro station in Brussels. For an unknown reason, the man took out a knife and attacked several people with it. Three people were injured, one seriously injured.
All three victims were taken to hospital. Two of them, a 40-year-old man and a 47-year-old woman, have since been able to leave the hospital. The third victim, a 25-year-old man, is still in hospital but is no longer in a life-threatening condition.
LOOK. These images show how the man swings a knife and harass passersby
The suspect, 30-year-old Anwar H., was arrested by the police and placed under an arrest warrant by the investigating judge on Tuesday. There is currently no clarity about his motive, but it has now emerged that the man has been struggling with psychiatric problems for some time.
Bipolar
Anwar H.’s father previously told ‘Het Nieuwsblad’ that his son is “not dangerous”. “He is bipolar (also called a manic-depressive disorder, ed.) and takes medication for this. If he forgets that, he goes all out. That’s what happened Monday. He threatened and stabbed people with a knife, but that is only because of his illness,” it reads. According to the father, his son should be admitted.
“Medication can play a very important role in balancing a bipolar disorder, but not taking a medication once will rarely seriously disrupt the clinical picture,” psychiatrist Sabine Wyckaert responded the day before yesterday. By taking the medication less consistently, the disorder can end up in “turbulent waters”, explained the psychiatrist affiliated with KU Leuven.
EXCLUSIVE. Seriously injured victim (25) knife attack subway testifies from hospital: “I am still too much in shock to be angry” (+)
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