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A shooter killed two people near the center of Brussels on Monday evening, in what Belgium’s foreign minister condemned as a “terrorist attack.”
Belgian Prime Minister Alexander De Croo said that he had passed on condolences to his Swedish counterpart “following tonight’s harrowing attack on Swedish citizens.”
Police said gunshots were fired near Place Sainctelette and Boulevard du Neuvième de Ligne shortly after 7 p.m. and patrols were immediately dispatched to the scene. The shooter remains at large.
Two people were confirmed dead, said Brussels police spokesperson Ilse Van de Keere, but more details were not immediately available. “The investigation is ongoing,” she said.
Brussels raised its terror threat level to 4, the maximum on the scale, according to the Belgian National Crisis Center. The organization asked people to avoid unnecessary travel and show “increased vigilance.”
Sweden is playing Belgium in a football match at the national stadium in northern Brussels. The game has currently been suspended. Sweden has been on the front line of blowback from hard-line Islamists, due to repeated Quran burnings — including a spate this summer which led Stockholm to increase the country’s security threat level.
De Croo added: “My deepest condolences to the relatives of this cowardly attack in Brussels. We are monitoring the situation and ask the people of Brussels to be vigilant.”
Belgian’s Foreign Minister Hadja Lahbib said she was “horrified” by the “terrorist attack,” adding, “All necessary means must be mobilized to combat radicalism,” Lahbib wrote on X.
Following the attack, French Interior Minister Gérald Darmanin announced France would strengthen its border controls with Belgium, according to AFP.
Belgium’s Interior Minister Annelies Verlinden, Justice Minister Vincent Van Quickenborne and De Croo are currently at the National Crisis Center, near the prime minister’s office in the Belgian capital.
“Terrible shooting in Brussels,” Verlinden wrote on X, adding that the suspected shooter was being tracked down by police.
Brussels Mayor Philippe Close said: “Following the shooting in Brussels, the police services are mobilizing to guarantee safety in and around our capital” in collaboration with Verlinden’s ministry.
European Parliament President Roberta Metsola said: “Terror and extremism cannot infiltrate in our societies. People must feel safe. Hate will not win.”
The story is being updated.
