“The police opened fire” to neutralize a man who could be the wanted assailant, said the spokesperson for the federal prosecutor’s office, Eric Van Duyse.
A man died after being arrested on Tuesday October 17 in the town of Schaerbeek, on the outskirts of Brussels, learned about franceinfo from the Belgian federal prosecutor’s office. He is suspected of being the author of the attack which left two dead in the Belgian capital on Monday evening. “The police opened fire” to neutralize it, said the spokesperson for the federal prosecutor’s office, Eric Van Duyse. If everything suggests that the man is indeed the one in the sights of the authorities, we must wait for scientific analyzes to confirm this information, specifies the Belgian prosecutor’s office to franceinfo.
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Previously, on Tuesday morning, Belgian Justice Minister Vincent Van Quickenborne gave more information about the suspect during a press conference. Here’s what we know about him.
A 45-year-old Tunisian, in an irregular situation, known to the police
The suspect is a 45-year-old Tunisian. He had “introduces an asylum procedure” in Belgium “in November 2019”according to Nicole de Moor, Secretary of State for Asylum and Migration. “He received a negative decision in October 2020 and he disappeared from the radar shortly after”she continued, adding that it “was never presented by the police. [L’ordre] to leave the territory which was established in March 2021 could never be issued”still according to the same source. “He was known to the police for suspicious acts: human trafficking, illegal residence and endangering state security”specified the Belgian Minister of Justice, Vincent Van Quickenborne.
“No concrete indication of radicalization” concerning him
The Minister of Justice reported that “Earlier this year, he allegedly threatened an occupant of an asylum center (…) through social networks. This person denounced him, adding that the suspect had been convicted of terrorism in Tunisia”. Although this information was subsequently denied, it led the federal judicial police in Antwerp to assiduously follow this man. Following these elements, the police called a meeting of the Joint Information Center, an anti-terrorism agency, created after the 2016 attacks. This meeting was scheduled for Tuesday. However, “there was no question of a concrete or imminent terrorist threat”further detailed Vincent Van Quickenborne.
“There was no concrete indication of radicalization”, insisted the Minister of Justice. Although in “July 2016, unconfirmed information was transmitted by a foreign police service according to which the man had a radicalized profile and wanted to leave for a conflict zone for jihad”he added.
A protest video evoking the Islamic State
If justice has not formally confirmed the radicalization of the suspect, a video message of protest was posted on social networks shortly after the attack, Monday evening. It was published by a man “presenting himself as the attacker and claiming to be inspired by the Islamic State”exposed the federal prosecutor’s office, responsible for terrorism cases and seized of the investigation.
In this video, a man, dressed in a fluorescent orange jacket, speaks in Arabic. We hear that “the Swedish nationality of the victims is mentioned as a probable motivation for the act”commented Eric Van Duyse, spokesperson for the Belgian federal prosecutor’s office.
He would have lived in the suburbs of Brussels
During the night from Monday to Tuesday, a search was carried out in Schaerbeek, the town where the man was arrested on Tuesday morning. It happened “Avenue Huart Hamoir, address where the suspect would have stayed”announced the Belgian federal prosecutor, Frédéric Van Leeuw, during the press conference. “No one was found at the address given”he clarified, and “as a security measure, the entire building comprising around twenty apartments was visited by the police”.