2023 Brussels shooting

Last updated

2023 Brussels shooting
Part of terrorist activity in Belgium
Memorial 2023 Brussels shooting Swedish football supporters.jpg
Temporary memorial for the Swedish football supporters on the site of the attack
Location Brussels, Belgium
Coordinates 50°51′29″N4°20′47″E / 50.85806°N 4.34639°E / 50.85806; 4.34639
Date16 October 2023 (2023-10-16)
19:15 CEST (UTC+2)
Target Swedes
Attack type
 Shooting
Weapons AR-15–style rifle
Deaths3 (including the perpetrator)
Injured1
PerpetratorAbdesalem Lassoued [lower-alpha 1]

The 2023 Brussels shooting was an Islamist terrorist attack carried out at about 19:15 (CEST) on 16 October when Abdesalem Lassoued, a 45-year-old Tunisian living illegally in Brussels, Belgium, opened fire on Swedish football supporters at the intersection of two boulevards just off the Square Sainctelette, leaving two dead and one injured. The victims were on their way to a football match at the King Baudouin Stadium.

Contents

Lassoued fled the scene, and soon after a video was posted on social media in which he claimed responsibility for the attack. The Belgian federal prosecutor immediately concentrated its investigation on a terrorist motive. The following morning, Lassoued was tracked down to a café in the Schaerbeek municipality where he was shot by Belgian police and died on the way to hospital. Following the attack, the terror threat level for Brussels was raised from 2 to 4, the highest level. In the rest of Belgium, it was raised from level 2 to 3. After Lassoued's death, Brussels was lowered to level 3, the same as the rest of the country.

Four days after the attack, Belgian Justice Minister Vincent Van Quickenborne resigned after it emerged that an extradition request by Tunisia for Lassoued in August 2022 had not been followed up by Belgian magistrates.

Background

The attack was the fifth fatal Islamist terrorist attack carried out in Belgium since 2014, after the Jewish Museum of Belgium shooting in 2014, the 2016 Brussels bombings, the 2018 Liège attack, and the knife attack in Schaerbeek in 2022. [1] In addition, there were two attacks in Brussels in which no victims died: a failed bombing in 2017, and a knife attack in 2017. [2] [3]

The Islamic State terror cell which planned and carried out both the November 2015 Paris attacks and the 2016 Brussels bombings was based in Brussels. [4]

Attack

A view of the Square Sainctelette in Brussels. The attack took place outside and in the lobby of the glass-cladded building in the upper left-hand corner. Northern Quarter, Brussels, Belgium - panoramio (6).jpg
A view of the Square Sainctelette in Brussels. The attack took place outside and in the lobby of the glass-cladded building in the upper left-hand corner.

At about 7:15 pm on 16 October 2023, Lassoued opened fire on Swedish football supporters in a taxi at the junction of the Boulevard du Neuvième de Ligne and the Boulevard d'Ypres, just off the Square Sainctelette, in the City of Brussels. The supporters were on their way to the King Baudouin Stadium, about 5 km (3 mi) away, where the UEFA Euro 2024 qualifier between Belgium and Sweden was being played. [5] [6] [7] One victim was shot in the taxi, while the other was shot as he ran into the foyer of an office building. A third Swedish football supporter was also shot and was left in a serious, but not life-threatening, condition. [8] [7] [9] [10] The gunman, who was wearing a fluorescent orange jacket, then fled the scene on a motorcycle. [11]

The football match, which had started at 8:45 pm, was called off at half-time as news of the attack spread. The Swedish players said they did not want to play the second half of the match and the Belgium team agreed. [12] The 35,000 spectators were held in the stadium before being evacuated a little before midnight, with the Swedish fans being the last to leave. [8] Swedish fans were reported to have removed their supporter's gear to avoid being identified as Swedish. [13] The Swedish Ministry of Foreign Affairs advised Swedes in Brussels to be vigilant. [14]

Soon after the attack a video of a man speaking Arabic and claiming responsibility for the shooting was circulating on social media. [11] The man said he was inspired by the Islamic State. [5] A spokesman for the Belgian federal prosecutor's office said that the investigation was concentrating on a terrorist motive, with Swedish nationals having been targeted, possibly on account of the recent Quran burnings in Sweden. [5] The attacker was identified as Lassoued. [15]

As a result of the attack, the terror threat level for Brussels was raised from 2 to 4, the highest level, and raised from 2 to 3, the second-highest level, in the rest of the country. [5]

Perpetrator's death

Police traced Lassoued to his address in Schaerbeek through the registration of his motorcycle. That evening two officers saw him sitting in a park opposite his flat (having been thrown out with a bag of belongings by his partner) but did not apprehend him. [16] The following morning, police received a tip-off that Lassoued was in a café close to where he lived. During the arrest, he was shot in the chest by police. Paramedics tried to resuscitate him and took him to hospital, where he was pronounced dead. His death was confirmed by Belgian Interior Minister Annelies Verlinden on the social media platform X. [17] The weapon used in the attack (an AR-15 semi-automatic rifle) was found in his possession, as was his bag of belongings. [18] [19] After his death, the terror threat level for Brussels was lowered to 3, the same as the rest of Belgium. [15]

Victims

The three victims were all Swedish football supporters who had travelled to Belgium to watch their national team play in the Euro 2024 qualifier. The two men who died were 60-year-old Patrick Lundström who lived in Switzerland, and 70-year-old Kent Persson who lived in Stockholm. [20] [21] The injured victim was a man in his 70s. [7]

Investigation

Perpetrator's background

Abdesalem Lassoued (1 September 1978 – 17 October 2023) was sentenced in Tunisia in 2005 to more than 26 years in prison for crimes including attempted murder. [22] He escaped from prison in 2011 and entered Europe via Lampedusa, an Italian island in the Mediterranean Sea, making the journey on a small boat with other migrants. [22] [15] In the decade following his arrival in Europe, he is known to have sought asylum in Belgium, Italy, Norway and Sweden, all of which rejected his claims. [23] Living under a false identity in Sweden, he was arrested for drug-related offences in 2012 and was deported back to Italy after serving a two-year prison sentence. [24] From Italy, where he had been identified as radicalised, he travelled to Belgium and applied for asylum in 2019. His claim was rejected in 2020 and he remained in Belgium illegally, in spite of a request from Tunisia for his extradition. [15] [23] He had been flagged by Belgian authorities for potential extremism and an unidentified foreign intelligence service had also issued a warning about him in 2016. [25] After having threatened another Tunisian man at an asylum centre, Lassoued had been due to be questioned by the Belgian authorities on 17 October. [25] [26]

After the death of Lassoued, the federal prosecutor told reporters that he was thought to have been acting as a lone wolf rather than as a member of a terrorist group. [27] On the evening of 17 October, the Islamic State claimed responsibility for the attack through their Amaq News Agency. [28]

Motive

Belgian authorities said that the killer had targeted Swedish people, possibly in revenge for the 2023 Quran burnings in Sweden. [29] [30] The victims were wearing Sweden men's national football team shirts when they were shot. [31] In a video released after the attack, the perpetrator claimed to have been inspired by the Islamic State. [12] Lassoued had followed an account on the social media application TikTok that spread conspiracy theories about Muslim children being kidnapped by the Swedish social authorities. [32]

Reactions

Aftermath

Two days after the attack, the Swedish and Belgian Prime Ministers attended a brief ceremony for the victims, laying wreaths at the site of the attack. [21] On 19 October, UEFA announced that the European Championship qualifying game between Belgium and Sweden would not be replayed, with the 1–1 half-time score treated as the final score. Both national football associations approved the decision as it had no impact on which teams qualified from Group F. [38]

On 20 October the Belgian government announced that the attack was officially classed as terrorism. [39] Later that day Belgian Justice Minister Vincent Van Quickenborne resigned after it emerged that an extradition request by Tunisia for Lassoued in August 2022 had not been followed up by Belgian magistrates. [23]

On 24 October two men living in Paris were charged with terrorist-related offences in connection with the attack. [40] Two days later a man in Brussels suspected of helping Lassoued obtain his firearm was charged with terrorist-related murder and attempted murder and involvement in a terrorist organisation. [41] On 27 October, a man was arrested in Málaga, Spain, on suspicion of involvement in "activities linked to organised crime" along with Lassoued. [42]

See also

Notes

  1. ↑ Killed by police the morning after the attack

Related Research Articles

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Vincent Van Quickenborne</span> Belgian politician

Vincent Paul Marie Van Quickenborne is a Belgian politician of the Open Flemish Liberals and Democrats who served as Minister of Justice in the government of Prime Minister Alexander De Croo from 2020 to 2023.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Jewish Museum of Belgium shooting</span> 2014 terrorist attack in Brussels, Belgium

The Jewish Museum of Belgium shooting was an antisemitic Islamist terrorist attack which took place in Brussels, Belgium, on 24 May 2014 when a gunman opened fire at the museum, killing four people. Three of them, an Israeli couple on holiday and a French woman, died at the scene. The fourth victim, a Belgian employee of the museum, later died of his injuries in hospital. Six days after the attack, on 30 May 2014, Mehdi Nemmouche, a 29-year-old French national of Algerian origin, was arrested during a routine drugs check in Marseille, France, when he was found to be carrying weapons identical to those used in the shooting. A second suspect, Nacer Bendrer, was later identified and arrested.

<i>Charlie Hebdo</i> shooting 2015 terrorist attack in Paris, France

On 7 January 2015, at about 11:30 a.m. in Paris, France, the employees of the French satirical weekly magazine Charlie Hebdo were targeted in a shooting attack by two French-born Algerian Muslim brothers, Saïd Kouachi and Chérif Kouachi. Armed with rifles and other weapons, the duo murdered 12 people and injured 11 others; they identified themselves as members of al-Qaeda in the Arabian Peninsula, which claimed responsibility for the attack. They fled after the shooting, triggering a manhunt, and were killed by the GIGN on 9 January. The Kouachi brothers' attack was followed by several related Islamist terrorist attacks across the Île-de-France between 7 and 9 January 2015, including the Hypercacher kosher supermarket siege, in which a French-born Malian Muslim took hostages and murdered four people before being killed by French commandos.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">2015 Verviers police raid</span>

On 15 January 2015, Belgian police carried out a raid on premises in Verviers, Belgium. According to news sources, the raids were an anti-terrorist operation against Islamist radicals.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">November 2015 Paris attacks</span> 2015 terrorist attacks in France

A series of coordinated Islamist terrorist attacks took place on Friday, 13 November 2015 in Paris, France, and the city's northern suburb, Saint-Denis. Beginning at 21:16, three suicide bombers struck outside the Stade de France in Saint-Denis, during an international football match, after failing to gain entry to the stadium. Another group of attackers then fired on crowded cafés and restaurants in Paris, with one of them also detonating an explosive, killing himself in the process. A third group carried out another mass shooting and took hostages at an Eagles of Death Metal concert attended by 1,500 people in the Bataclan theatre, leading to a stand-off with police. The attackers were either shot or detonated suicide vests when police raided the theatre.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Salah Abdeslam</span> Belgian-born French convicted terrorist

Salah Abdeslam is a Belgian-born Islamic terrorist who was sentenced to life in prison in France in 2022 as the only surviving member of the 10-man unit that carried out the attacks in Paris on 13 November 2015, in which 130 people were killed and more than 490 injured.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Mohamed Abrini</span> Belgian-Moroccan terrorist

Mohamed Abrini is a Belgian Islamic terrorist. On 29 June 2022 he was convicted of involvement in the November 2015 Paris attacks and received a sentence of life imprisonment with a minimum term of 22 years. In July 2023 he was convicted of terrorist-related murder and attempted murder for his role in the 2016 Brussels bombings, and given a sentence of 30 years.

On 15 and 18 March 2016, Belgian police carried out raids on houses in Brussels. The raids were conducted in connection to the attacks in Paris four months earlier. In the raids, one suspect was killed and five others were arrested, including Salah Abdeslam, the only surviving member of the 10-man unit that carried out the November 2015 Paris attacks.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">2016 Brussels bombings</span> Islamic State suicide bombings in Belgium

On 22 March 2016, two coordinated terrorist attacks in and close to Brussels, Belgium, were carried out by the Islamic State (IS). Two suicide bombers detonated bombs at Brussels Airport in Zaventem just outside Brussels, and one detonated a bomb on a train leaving Maelbeek/Maalbeek metro station in the European Quarter of Brussels. Thirty-two people were killed and more than 300 were injured. Three perpetrators also died. A third airport attacker fled the scene without detonating his bomb, which was later found in a search of the airport. A second metro attacker also fled, taking his bomb with him. The Islamic State claimed responsibility for the attacks.

Osama Krayem, also known as Naïm or Naim al Hamed, is a Swedish-Syrian convicted terrorist and mass murderer involved in the 2016 Brussels bombings. He was one of five men arrested on 8 April 2016 by the Belgian police.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Brussels Islamic State terror cell</span> Group who carried out Paris and Brussels terrorist attacks

The Brussels Islamic State terror cell was a group involved in large-scale terrorist attacks in Paris in November 2015 and Brussels in March 2016. The terror cell was connected to the Islamic State (IS), a jihadist terrorist organisation primarily based in Syria and Iraq.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Islamic terrorism in Europe</span> Islamic terrorist attacks and plots in Europe

Islamic terrorism in Europe has been carried out by the Islamic State (ISIL) or Al-Qaeda as well as Islamist lone wolves since the late 20th century. Europol, which releases the annual EU Terrorism Situation and Trend report (TE-SAT), used the term "Islamist terrorism" in the years 2006–2010, "religiously inspired terrorism" 2011–2014, and has used "jihadist terrorism" since 2015. Europol defines jihadism as "a violent ideology exploiting traditional Islamic concepts".

On 5 October 2016, three police officers were attacked by a man wielding a machete in the Schaerbeek municipality of Brussels, Belgium. Two of them suffered stab wounds, while the third was physically assaulted but otherwise uninjured. The suspected assailant, a Belgian citizen named Hicham Diop, was apprehended and charged with attempted terrorism-related murder and participating in a terrorist group.

This article covers attacks and activity of terrorism in Belgium.

The August 2017 Brussels attack occurred near the Grand-Place/Grote Markt in Brussels, Belgium, on 25 August 2017, when two soldiers were injured by an assailant wielding a knife.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Carcassonne and Trèbes attack</span> 2018 Islamist terrorist attack in southern France

On 23 March 2018, an Islamic terrorist carried out three attacks in the town of Carcassonne and nearby village of Trèbes in the Aude department in southwestern France, killing three people and injuring fifteen.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">2018 Liège attack</span> 29 May 2018 terrorist action in Liège, Belgium

On 29 May 2018, Benjamin Herman, a prisoner on temporary leave from prison, stabbed two female police officers, took their guns, shot and killed them and a civilian in Liège, Belgium. The gunman took a woman hostage before he was killed by police. The attacker had since 2017 been suspected of having been radicalised in prison after converting to Islam, and was reported to be part of the entourage of a prison Islamist recruiter. The method of the attack was said by investigators to match and be specifically encouraged by the Islamic State which claimed the attack. Prosecutors say they are treating the attacks as "terrorist murder". The attack is treated as "jihadist terrorism" by Europol.

The 2018 Brussels stabbing attack occurred on 20 November 2018 when a man wielding two knives attacked police officers outside a police station adjacent to the Grand-Place/Grote Markt in Brussels, Belgium. A police officer was wounded and the attacker was shot and injured by the police. Both the attacker and a wounded officer were hospitalized with non life-threatening injuries. An investigation for possible links to terrorism is underway. Jan Jambon, Belgium's Minister of the Interior and Security, said the suspect had been interned and recently freed.

Events in the year 2023 in Belgium.

References

  1. ↑ "Musée juif, aéroport, école… la Belgique déjà frappée par plusieurs attentats meurtriers commis au nom de Daech". Le Parisien (in French). 17 October 2023.
  2. ↑ "Suspected suicide bomber shot at Brussels railway station". BBC News . 21 June 2017.
  3. ↑ "Brussels attack: Man shot after stabbing soldier". BBC News. 26 August 2017.
  4. ↑ "Paris attacks: Who were the attackers?". BBC News. 27 April 2016.
  5. 1 2 3 4 Plazy, Sylvain; Casert, Raf (16 October 2023). "Gunman kills two Swedes in Brussels, prompting terror alert and halt of Belgium-Sweden soccer match". AP News .
  6. ↑ "Attentat à Bruxelles : "Je suis resté figé", un témoin raconte l'attaque". RTBF (in French). 17 October 2023.
  7. 1 2 3 "Brussels shooting: Police shoot dead attacker who killed Swedes". BBC News. 17 October 2023.
  8. 1 2 "Attentat à Bruxelles : match Belgique-Suède définitivement arrêté, public confiné... Le récit d'une soirée glaçante au stade Roi Baudouin". Le Figaro (in French). 16 October 2023.
  9. ↑ "UD: Två äldre svenska män döda i terrordådet i Bryssel" (in Swedish). TV4. 17 October 2023. Retrieved 17 October 2023.
  10. ↑ "Attentat à Bruxelles: qui sont les deux supporters suédois assassinés par Abdesalem Lassoued?". 7sur7 (in French). 19 October 2023.
  11. 1 2 3 "Suspect on the run after killing at least two in Brussels shooting". France 24 . 16 October 2023.
  12. 1 2 3 "Brussels shooting: 'Europe shaken' after two Swedes shot dead". BBC News. 16 October 2023.
  13. ↑ ""Folk tar av sig sina Sverigetröjor"". Sydsvenskan (in Swedish). 16 October 2023. Retrieved 16 October 2023.
  14. ↑ "Bryssel höjer terrorhotnivån – Terrorattack i Bryssel". SVT (in Swedish). 16 October 2023.
  15. 1 2 3 4 O'Carroll, Lisa; Bryant, Miranda; Tondo, Lorenzo (17 October 2023). "Killing of two Swedish football fans in Brussels 'probably lone wolf' attack". The Guardian.
  16. ↑ ""Dégage, tu es fou": Abdesalem Lassoued venait d'être mis à la porte par sa femme quand il a été repéré par deux policiers dans un parc". 7sur7 (in French). 19 October 2023.
  17. ↑ "Brussels attacker dies after being shot by police". Le Monde. 17 October 2023.
  18. ↑ "Brussels shootings: Gunman who killed two Swedes shot dead by police". Reuters . 17 October 2023.
  19. ↑ "Brussels: Suspected gunman who killed two people before football match dies after being shot by police". Sky News. Retrieved 17 October 2023.
  20. ↑ "Who were the victims of the Brussels terror attack?". The Brussels Times . 19 October 2023.
  21. 1 2 "Swedish and Belgian PMs lay wreaths for Brussels terror victims". The Guardian . 18 October 2023.
  22. 1 2 "Attentat de Bruxelles : le ministre de la Justice Vincent Van Quickenborne démissionne". RTBF (in French). 20 October 2023.
  23. 1 2 3 "Belgium's justice minister resigns after Brussels terror attack". The Guardian. 20 October 2023.
  24. ↑ "Lassoued had served two-year prison sentence in Sweden for drug charges". The Brussels Times. 18 October 2023.
  25. 1 2 "Suspect in Brussels Attack Had Been Known to Belgian Authorities for Years". New York Times. 17 October 2023.
  26. ↑ "Utpekade terroristen Abdesalem Lassoued satt i svenskt fängelse" (in Swedish). Expressen. 17 October 2023.
  27. ↑ "Belgian police shoot dead 'lone wolf' who killed Swedish fans". France 24. 17 October 2023.
  28. ↑ "Attentat à Bruxelles : l'Etat islamique revendique l'attaque". Le Soir (in French). 17 October 2023.
  29. 1 2 "Brussels attack: suspect shot dead by police after killing of Swedish football fans". The Guardian. 17 October 2023.
  30. ↑ "Deux supporters suédois tués à Bruxelles : voici l'auteur présumé, il se revendique membre de l'État islamique". La Libre Belgiqie. 16 October 2023.
  31. ↑ Robinson, James. "Brussels 'on highest terror alert' and football fans told to stay in stadium after two shot dead". Sky News. Retrieved 16 October 2023.
  32. ↑ Wikén, Johan; Jönsson, Oskar; Alshawish, Kovan; Brusman, Filip (17 October 2023). "Han misstänks för attacken mot svenskar i Bryssel". SVT Nyheter (in Swedish). Retrieved 17 October 2023.
  33. ↑ "Attentat à Bruxelles : Alexander De Croo, Ulf Kristersson et Ursula von der Leyen plaident pour une sécurisation renforcée des frontières". RTBF (in French). 18 October 2023.
  34. ↑ Ringstrom, Anna; Solsvik, Terje (16 October 2023). "Sweden says killing of two Swedes in Brussels is terrible news". Reuters. Retrieved 16 October 2023.
  35. ↑ "Terrorattack i Bryssel". SVT Nyheter (in Swedish). 17 October 2023. Retrieved 19 October 2023.
  36. 1 2 ""De vil skræmme os til tavshed, men det kommer de aldrig til": Her er de politiske reaktioner på formodet terrorangreb i Bruxelles". Altinget.dk (in Danish). 17 October 2023. Retrieved 19 October 2023.
  37. ↑ "Press statement by President von der Leyen with Belgian Prime Minister De Croo and Swedish Prime Minister Kristersson following the memorial for the victims of the Brussels attack of 16 October 2023". European Commission . 18 October 2023. Retrieved 18 October 2023.
  38. ↑ "UEFA declares Belgium vs. Sweden a draw after shooting near stadium, no games in Israel indefinitely". CBS Sports Network . 19 October 2023.
  39. ↑ "Attentat à Bruxelles - Le gouvernement reconnaît l'attentat du 16 octobre comme acte de terrorisme". La Libre (in French). 20 October 2023.
  40. ↑ "Brussels attack: Two suspects charged in French terror investigation". Le Monde. 25 October 2023.
  41. ↑ "Man aangehouden die Lassoued allicht aan wapen hielp". De Standaard (in Dutch). 26 October 2023.
  42. ↑ "Spanish police detain suspect in connection with Brussels terror attack". VRT . 27 October 2023.
This page is based on this Wikipedia article
Text is available under the CC BY-SA 4.0 license; additional terms may apply.
Images, videos and audio are available under their respective licenses.