3 people killed in shooting at Brussels JewishMuseum
BRUSSELS — Two women and a man were killed and one person seriously injured during a shooting at the JewishMuseum in central Brussels on Saturday, with Belgian officials saying anti-Semitic motives could not be ruled out.
A spokeswoman for the Brussels prosecutors office said there was no clear information about the perpetrator, although a fire brigade official said earlier that the shooter had driven up to the museum, gone inside and fired shots.
“Regarding the motive, we have little information. Everything is possible,” Ine Van Wymersch said at a news conference.
“We know that the location, theJewishMuseumin Brussels, makes one think of it being an anti-Semitic attack, but we do not have enough to confirm this is the case.”
Belgium’s interior minister, Joelle Milquet, was quoted by the RTBF Belgian television station, saying: “It’s a shooting … at the Jewish Museum. … All of this can lead to suspicions of an act of anti-Semitism.”
Police cordoned off the area around the museum, a busy tourist district packed with cafes, restaurants and antique furniture shops. An annual outdoor jazz concert due to be held near the museumwas called off.
Aman seen driving away from the scene was questioned in connection with the shooting, but officials were not certain if there had been one or more perpetrators, or whether the man had been involved.
No information was released about the nationality of the victims or if they were tourists or museum staff. They had been shot in the face and neck, and the injured person’s injury was life- threatening, the spokeswoman said.
Security around all Jewish institutions in the country has been raised to the highest level, and Prime Minister Elio di Rupo met with police and senior officials to discuss the situation.
About half of Belgium’s 42,000- strong Jewish community lives in Brussels.
Jewish community officials drew parallels between the shooting and the
“I would never have imagined something like that happening in Brussels.”
2012 killing of four Jews in a school in France by an al-Qaida-inspired gunman, MohamedMerah.
“This is appalling. I would never have imagined something like that happening in Brussels,” Maurice Sosnowski, president of the Coordinating Committee of Belgian Jewish Organizations, was quoted as saying byBFMTV.
World Jewish Congress President Ronald Lauder urged Belgian authorities to protect Jewish sites in the country.
“This despicable attack is yet another terrible reminder of the kind of threats Europe’s Jews are currently facing,” he said.
On Sunday, Belgium holds a general election, and throughout Europe, voters will choose the next European Parliament.