Gunman on the run after killing two people in the Belgian capital
According to local police, two Swedish nationals were shot dead in downtown Brussels on Monday evening.
Authorities said shots were fired shortly after 7 p.m. near Place Sainctelette and Boulevard du Neuvième de Ligne – about five kilometers from where the Swedish soccer team was scheduled to play in the Belgian capital later that evening.
Ilse Van de Keere, a police spokeswoman, confirmed this VRT News that two men were killed and that the suspected shooter is on the run. She did not want to provide further details.
An unconfirmed video circulating online showed a man – believed to be the shooter – wearing a fluorescent orange jacket and speak Arabic as he was reportedly riding a moped near Heizel Stadium. VRT News reported that the man fired at a crowd with a rifle – a “weapon of war” – while chasing fleeing people into a building before fleeing the scene himself.
In a post on XBelgian Prime Minister Alexander De Croo, formerly known as Twitter, called the double shooting a “cowardly assassination attempt.” With the gunman still at large, he urged Brussels residents to remain “vigilant.”
