Brussels shooting: Suspected gunman shot dead by police after two people killed before football match
Police have shot dead a suspected gunman after two people were killed before an international football match in Brussels.
Belgium's interior minister Annelies Verlinden told VRT radio "we have the good news that we found the individual" - but also said she could not rule out that he had accomplices.
The weapon believed to have been used in the fatal shootings before Belgium's match with Sweden last night has been recovered, she said.
Federal prosecutors confirmed to Sky News the suspected attacker had died.
He has been named by Belgian media as Abdesalem L - a 45-year-old Tunisian national.
The suspect was shot in a cafe during a police operation in the Schaerbeek area of the city on Tuesday morning.
It followed a tip-off by a member of the public, who alerted the emergency services after spotting him in the cafe.
Paramedics tried to resuscitate the suspect after he was shot, and he was rushed to hospital, where he was later pronounced dead.
"The perpetrator of the terrorist attack in Brussels has been identified and has died," Ms Verlinden wrote on X, formerly known as Twitter.
"We would like to thank the intelligence and security services, as well as the public prosecutor's office, for their swift and decisive action last night and this morning."
Suspect 'kept himself to himself'
The Public Prosecutor's Office of Brussels is investigating the shooting.
A military weapon and a bag of clothes were found inside the cafe.
The suspect lived with his partner and daughter in a first-floor apartment in Schaerbeek, according to neighbours, who said he "kept himself to himself" and was "polite".
"There was no indication that something like this might happen," one neighbour said.
Brussels on highest terror alert
The fatal shootings on Monday evening caused Belgium's Euro 2024 qualifier against Sweden to be abandoned at half-time.
Fans were also kept in the stadium as armed officers searched for the suspected attacker.
The two people killed were Swedish - and a third person was wounded in the attack.
The terror alert in Brussels was raised to four, the highest level, after the shootings happened about three miles (5km) from the 50,000-seater King Baudouin Stadium, shortly after 7pm local time - around 45 minutes before kick-off.
It was reduced to level three after the suspect was "neutralised", eliminating an "imminent threat", Belgian Prime Minister Alexander de Croo told a news conference on Tuesday afternoon.
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What we know about Brussels shooting
Threat of another attack subsides - but ripples of shock are significant
Shortly after the incident, a man who claimed to be the gunman appeared on social media in a video in which he claimed to be a member of Islamic State (IS) and a "fighter for Allah".
He also claimed he had carried out the attack in "revenge in the name of Muslims".
One Belgium newspaper said a witness heard the gunman shout "Allahu Akbar" - "God is great" in Arabic - before the shots were fired.
Another video, reported to be of the incident, which has not been verified by Sky News, showed a gunman in a fluorescent orange jacket and a white helmet chasing a man into a building before shooting at him.
'Radicalised' suspect was known to intelligence services
The suspect is said to have arrived on the Italian island of Lampedusa in 2011, according to a government source in the country.
He is said to have spent time in Italy before travelling to Sweden - where he is thought to have been expelled.
He returned to Italy where, in 2016, he was identified by police in Bologna as a radicalised subject who was monitored by intelligence services.
Italian authorities presumed he had moved abroad after losing track of him in the same year, government and security sources said.
He then moved to Belgium, unsuccessfully seeking asylum there in November 2019, justice minister Vincent Van Quickenborne told reporters.
He was considered a risk to state security and was known to police over people smuggling and living illegally in the country.
He was also suspected of threatening a person in an asylum centre and a hearing on that incident had been due to take place on Tuesday, Mr Van Quickenborne added.
Belgian asylum state secretary Nicole de Moor said the suspect disappeared after his asylum application was refused. As a result, authorities were unable to locate him to organise his deportation.
A spokesperson for Belgium's federal prosecutor's office told reporters the investigation was focusing on "a possible terrorist motivation for the shooting".
Sweden has in recent months faced rioting following a string of Koran-burning incidents in both the country itself and in neighbouring Denmark.
As a result, Sweden raised its terrorism alert to the second-highest level in August.
Muslim leaders in Sweden have called on the government to find ways to stop the Koran burnings, but police have allowed them, citing freedom of speech.
Sweden's SAPO police security service said on Tuesday its assessment of the threat level against Sweden remained unchanged.
However, Swedish Prime Minister Ulf Kristersson said it was time to boost security measures.
"I understand that many Swedes are afraid and angry," he said, adding: "This is a time for more security, we can't be naive."
