Brussels shooting: Two Swedes shot dead as Belgium police hunt terror attack gunman

Belgian police on Tuesday shot and wounded a 45-year-old Tunisian suspected of killing two Swedish soccer followers in Brussels, Belgian media mentioned.

The man died in hospital from his wounds, media mentioned.

The suspect was shot in a restaurant on Tuesday, media mentioned. There was no rapid official affirmation of his loss of life.

Interior Minister Annelies Verlinden mentioned earlier the wounded man was suspected of being the gunman. Two Swedish nationals had been shot dead and a 3rd one was wounded in central Brussels on Monday night time and a person who recognized himself as a member of the Islamic State claimed duty in a video posted on-line.

The suspect fled the scene after the capturing as a soccer match between Belgium and Sweden was about to begin, triggering a large manhunt and prompting Belgium to lift its terror alert to the best stage.

“The weapon with which the attacks were committed has been found this morning where the man was apprehended in (the Brussels borough of) Schaerbeek. That makes the likelihood that the perpetrator has been caught bigger,” Verlinden instructed VRT broadcaster.

“We are checking fingerprints to be 100% sure.”

The perpetrator of Monday’s deadly assaults in Brussels is dead, Belgian public broadcaster RTBF mentioned on Tuesday.

The suspected assailant who shot to loss of life two Swedish nationals and wounded a 3rd individual in central Brussels on Monday night time was shot in a restaurant within the Schaerbeek neighborhood of the Belgian capital, Belgian media reported on Tuesday.

Earlier, it was reported that the person was in intensive care in hospital.

Belgian police on Tuesday shot and wounded a 45-year-old Tunisian who killed two Swedish residents in Brussels on Monday, native broadcaster RTBF radio mentioned on its web site.

Interior Minister Annelies Verlinden mentioned earlier the wounded man was suspected of being the gunman.

“The weapon with which the attacks were committed has been found this morning where the man was apprehended in Schaerbeek. That makes the likelihood that the perpetrator has been caught bigger,” Verlinden instructed VRT broadcaster.

“We are checking fingerprints to be 100% sure.”

She mentioned the person was in intensive care in hospital. Schaerbeek is on the border of Brussels.

The Belgian capital’s mayor Philippe Close instructed BFM TV: “It seems indeed the suspect has been neutralised.”

Belgian’s Prime Minister has supplied “unwavering solidarity”, after two Swedes had been shot dead in Brussels.

Alexander De Croo wrote on X, previously identified as Twitter that terrorist assaults shake “the foundations of our peaceful societies”.

Belgium was looking on Tuesday for a 45-year-old Tunisian gunman who killed two Swedish residents and wounded a 3rd on Monday in Brussels in what Prime Minister Alexander De Croo referred to as a brutal terrorist attack.

Belgian media mentioned the attacker was discovered and shot in a restaurant within the Belgian capital, however prosecutors mentioned they had been awaiting affirmation that it was the suspect.

Belgium was internet hosting Sweden in a Euro 2024 qualifying match on Monday night. The match was deserted at halftime.

The nation has raised the safety alert standing of its capital metropolis to the best stage, with elevated police presence, notably for Swedish individuals and establishments, and warned the general public to be additional vigilant and keep away from pointless journey.

The suspected assailant who shot to loss of life two Swedish nationals and wounded a 3rd individual in central Brussels on Monday night time was shot in a restaurant within the Schaerbeek neighborhood of the Belgian capital, Belgian media reported on Tuesday.

Belgium’s federal prosecution workplace confirmed the knowledge, telling Reuters it was nonetheless unsure if the individual shot is certainly the assailant.

Shortly following the attack the National Crisis Centre mentioned that it had elevated the risk stage within the Brussels area to “level 4”. The organisation requested “active vigilance” from civilians and suggested in opposition to “unnecessary movement”.

It added that the risk stage throughout the remainder of the nation would raised to the second-highest.

Earlier, the NCC urged members of the general public to not share photos or movies of the victims on social media, out of respect for his or her households.

After two Swedes had been killed in a terrorist attack in Brussels, French president Emmanuel Macron mentioned that “Europe has been shaken”.

Belgian police earlier mentioned that the gunman had suspected terrorist motives.

A spokesman for the Belgian federal prosecutor, Eric van Duyse, requested locals to “go home and stay at home as long as the threat has not been eradicated”.