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

Belgium was searching on Tuesday for a 45-year-old Tunisian gunman who killed two Swedish citizens and wounded a third on Monday in Brussels in what Prime Minister Alexander De Croo called a brutal terrorist attack.

Belgian media said the attacker was found and shot in a cafe in the Belgian capital, but prosecutors said they were awaiting confirmation that it was the suspect.

Belgium was hosting Sweden in a Euro 2024 qualifying match on Monday evening. The match was abandoned at halftime.

The country has raised the security alert status of its capital city to the highest level, with increased police presence, particularly for Swedish people and institutions, and warned the public to be extra vigilant and avoid unnecessary travel.

The suspected assailant who shot to death two Swedish nationals and wounded a third person in central Brussels on Monday night was shot in a cafe in the Schaerbeek neighborhood of the Belgian capital, Belgian media reported on Tuesday.

Belgium’s federal prosecution office confirmed the information, telling Reuters it was still uncertain if the person shot is indeed the assailant.

Shortly following the attack the National Crisis Centre said that it had increased the threat level in the Brussels region to “level 4”. The organisation requested “active vigilance” from civilians and advised against “unnecessary movement”.

It added that the threat level across the rest of the nation would raised to the second-highest.

Earlier, the NCC urged members of the public not to share pictures or videos of the victims on social media, out of respect for their families.

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

Belgian police earlier said 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”.

After the terrorist attack in Brussels that killed two Swedes, France tightened security measures at a friendly match between France and Scotland in Lille on Tuesday evening, French newspaper Le Monde reported.

Federal prosecutors in Belgium have launched a terrorism inquiry over the shooting on the Boulevard d’Ypres in Brussels.

State Secretary for Asylum and Migration Nicole de Moor told reporters on Tuesday that the suspected perpetrator applied for asylum in Belgium in November 2019.

However, in October 2020, his application was rejected and shortly afterwards he disappeared from the radar.

The Belgian royal palace said it was “shocked” by the shooting. “Our thoughts are first and foremost with the victims, their families and loved ones. We support the security forces who are currently doing their utmost to track down the perpetrator,” the palace said on social media.

Belgian prime minister Alexander De Croo told reporters today that “the perpetrator is said to be a man of Tunisian origin who was staying illegally in our country”.

He also said that security would be increased in sensitive areas including those belonging to the Swedish community.

“The perpetrator targeted Swedish supporters. It was said to be a man of Tunisian origin who was staying illegally in our country,” he said.

“Two lives were cut short, mown down by the most extreme cruelty. Our thoughts go out to the victims, their loved ones, their relatives. We offer our condolences,” he added.

Schools in Brussels will remain open today despite the suspect still being at large.

HLN reported that schools are “not staying closed due to the heightened terror” threat following Monday night’s attack in Brussels.

According to prime minister Alexander De Croo, who addressed a press conference, “there is no reason to close schools”.

“Everyone is now looking for a foothold. In any case, with our country, with our excellent security services, we are doing everything we can to track down the perpetrator,” Belgian minister of the interior Annelies Verlinden said.