Brussels on high alert as two Swedes killed in shooting and suspect remains at large
Brussels is on its highest level of security alert after two Swedes were shot dead in the centre of the city by a gunman who federal prosecutors said claimed to be inspired by Islamic State.
The Swedish national football team were in the middle of a match against Belgium at King Baudouin Stadium, about 5km away, but the match was abandoned at half-time and the crowd was instructed to stay inside the stadium.
A spokesperson for the prosecutor’s office said the suspect remained at large and told residents to stay indoors. “Go home and stay at home until the threat has been eradicated,” they said.
In a video posted on social media, a man identifying himself as the attacker said “he was inspired by the Islamic State” extremist group, the spokesman for the federal prosecutor’s office, Eric Van Duyse, said on the LN24 news channel.
Several Belgian media outlets said the two individuals killed were wearing football shirts belonging to the Swedish national team.
Laura Demullier of Belgium’s OCAD anti-terror centre said the highest priority for the authorities was to get more than 35,000 football fans attending the Belgium-Sweden football match safely out of the stadium. The evacuation eventually began just before midnight.
“The population needs to be actively vigilant and avoid any unnecessary travel,” Demullier said.
Police officers provided extra protection for Swedish nationals at the game, escorting Sweden’s national players directly to the airport to leave safely, Belgium’s football association CEO told the RTBF channel.
The gunman, who was wearing a fluorescent orange jacket and using an automatic rifle, fled the scene on a scooter after the incident, according to a video shared by the Flemish newspaper Het Laatste Nieuws.
Media reports aired amateur videos showing a man firing several shots near a station using a large weapon. A taxi driver was wounded and receiving treatment in hospital, the prosecutor’s spokesperson said.
The threat level in the Belgian capital was raised to level 4, and in the rest of the country to level 3. Raising the terror level to the top rating of 4 means a threat is extremely serious; it previously stood at 2, which means the threat is average.
Several Belgian media outlets identified the suspect as a 45-year-old man of Tunisian origin who lived in Brussels.
The federal prosecutor in charge of terrorism cases launched an investigation. Police are only investigating one suspect at the moment based on preliminary information.
The individual claiming the attack said the Swedish nationality of his victims was a motivation, Van Duyse said but added there appeared to be no links with the conflict between Israel and Hamas in the Middle East.
EU sources said concerns had been growing that the Israel-Hamas conflict would increase security risks in Europe, and a rise in antisemitic attacks has already been seen in the UK.
Sweden raised its terror alert to the second highest level in August after a series of public burnings of the Qur’an by an Iraqi refugee living in Sweden resulted in threats from Islamic militant groups.
“I have just offered my sincere condolences to @SwedishPM following tonight’s harrowing attack on Swedish citizens in Brussels,” prime minister Alexander De Croo tweeted. “As close partners, the fight against terrorism is a joint one.”
The shooting took place in the capital’s northern districts. Police were alerted to the incident after 7 pm local time (1700 GMT).
A police spokesperson, Ilse Vande Keere, said officers arrived at the scene and sealed off the immediate neighbourhood. She declined to elaborate on the circumstances of the shooting.
“A horrible shooting in Brussels, and the perpetrator is actively being tracked down,” said the interior minister, Annelies Verlinden, adding that she was joining government talks at the National Crisis Centre.
Sweden’s justice minister, Gunnar Strömmer, said: “Tonight we have received terrible news from Brussels. The government office and relevant authorities are working intensively to get more information about what happened.
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.
Charles Michel, the president of the European Council, which represents member states in Europe, said: “The heart of Europe is hit by violence. My heart goes out to the families of the victims of the deadly attack in the centre of Brussels.
“My support for the Belgian authorities and security services who are monitoring the situation.”
The president of the European Commission, Ursula von der Leyen, said her thoughts were with the families of the victims of the “despicable attack in Brussels,” adding: “Together, we stand united against terror.”
The French president, Emmanuel Macron, said Europe had been “shaken” by the “Islamist” attack. The French interior minister, Gérald Darmanin, ordered the strengthening of security controls at the border with Belgium while the perpetrator remained at large.
Authorities in the two countries were alert to the possibility that the perpetrator could cross the border, in a repeat of a security failure in 2016 when Salah Abdeslam, the sole surviving perpetrator of the 2015 Paris attack that killed 130 people, fled to Brussels.
France was put on its highest level of security alert earlier this week after a suspected radical Islamist killed a teacher and injured three others in the north of the country.