Two police officers were stabbed in the Brussels municipality of Schaerbeek on Thursday evening. One officer has died in hospital, the other remains in hospital with injuries, Belgian media report. Colleagues of the agent duo shot the perpetrator shortly after the stabbing, who, according to the Belgian newspaper The standard later died in hospital.
The officers were attacked around 19:15 in the Aarschotstraat, which runs along the Brussels-North station. The deceased officer, a man between the ages of 25 and 30, was stabbed in the neck; It is unknown where the other officer was hit. The assailant suffered gunshot wounds to the leg and abdomen when he was arrested, and later died.
The motive for the attack is still unclear. The man would The standard illegally resided in Belgium and earlier in the day called for the murder of agents in a police station in Evere. He was released after questioning. According to several Belgian media, he would have shouted ‘Allahu Akbar’ during his attack, but the Belgian police could not confirm this to the newspaper.
Belgian Prime Minister Alexander De Croo expressed his condolences on Twitter to the relatives of the killed officer and wrote that he hoped “that his colleague in the hospital will be okay”. The Minister of the Interior Annelies Verlinden calls it “a terrible drama” and speaks of “heartbreaking news”.