Liege shooting: Two police officers and civilian dead in Belgium

Authored by bbc.com and submitted by Fatherthinger

Media playback is unsupported on your device Media caption Social media footage captured the sound of gunshots

A man has shot dead two female police officers and a civilian in the eastern Belgian city of Liège.

The gunman also took a female cleaner hostage at a school before being killed by police. Two other police officers were also injured.

The man's motive is not yet clear but the incident is being treated as terrorism.

Police sources quoted in local media said the man was heard shouting "Allahu Akbar" ("God is greatest" in Arabic).

The deaths of the two female officers were confirmed by the local mayor's office, AFP news agency reported.

Image copyright EPA Image caption A bomb squad was sent to the scene of the shooting in Liege, Belgium

Belgian broadcaster RTBF said the gunman was let out from prison on temporary release on Monday where he had been serving time on drug offences. It said that he may have been radicalised while in jail.

The shooting unfolded late morning on Tuesday near a cafe in the city centre.

Prosecutors said the man followed and attacked the officers with a knife, before taking a gun from them and opening fire.

He also shot dead a 22-year-old man who was sitting in the passenger seat of a parked car as he walked in the direction of a nearby school, where he briefly took a member of staff hostage, prosecutors said.

Armed police officers then arrived at the scene and "intervened", prosecutors added.

The attacker began firing at the officers in an attempt to escape, injuring a number of them "around their legs", before he was shot dead.

Footage on social media showed people running to safety as several gunshots rang out. Children at the school were moved to safety.

Liege city authorities later tweeted: "The children in the local schools are safe."

Belgium's Prime Minister Charles Michel said he was following the situation closely and expressed his support for those caught up in the shooting.

Belgium's Interior Minister Jan Jambon said that investigators were trying to establish "exactly what happened", adding: "Our thoughts are with the victims of this horrible act."

Belgium remains on alert after a series of jihadist attacks in the country and in neighbouring France.

A Brussels-based cell was involved in the 2015 Paris attacks which left 130 people dead in several locations.

Brussels itself saw three suicide bombings in March 2016, with 32 people killed. Both the Paris and Brussels attacks were claimed by the Islamic State-group.

Later in 2016 a man attacked two police officers with machetes while shouting "Allahu Akbar" before being shot dead.

CndConnection on May 29th, 2018 at 13:58 UTC »

How horrible. Poor bloke was 22 years old just sitting in his car and he gets killed for nothing :<

Fidelstikks on May 29th, 2018 at 11:22 UTC »

2 policemen and a bystander.

StelliferousPolaris on May 29th, 2018 at 10:46 UTC »

Info about attacker:

According to our information, the author of the shooting, which killed four people including two policemen and a passerby in Liège , was on prison leave since Monday. He is said to have radicalized in prison in Lantin where he was incarcerated. Benjamin Herman, from Rochefort, was 36 years old (born in 1982). The offender was found to be very violent and was convicted, among other things, for drug offenses. His psychological profile was considered "unstable". Last night he allegedly committed a crime in the province of Luxembourg. The shooting in Liege follows a police check that went wrong. The man allegedly used a cutter and seized the weapon of one of the two policemen.

https://www.rtbf.be/info/societe/detail_l-auteur-de-la-fusillade-a-liege-etait-en-conge-penitentiaire-depuis-lundi?id=9930716