A Brussels police officer died of his wounds after a knife attack on Thursday night, according to the prosecutor’s office in the Belgian capital.
The events occurred at around 7:15 pm in the Brussels commune of Schaerbeek/Schaarbeek, near the Gare du Nord/Brussel-Noord train station.
A man armed with a knife attacked a patrol of two police officers. An officer from another patrol responding to a call for backup used his firearm to “neutralise the attacker”, according to Belgian news agency Belga.
Local media reported that the suspect had suffered gunshot wounds to the legs and abdomen and was transferred to the hospital.
Both officers were also taken to the hospital. One of them, stabbed in the neck, did not survive, Le Soir newspaper reported. The motive for the attack is unclear at this time.
Belgian Interior Minister Annelies Verlinden said the event represented “terrible drama” that “breaks my heart” in a post on Twitter on Thursday evening.
“My thoughts are first and foremost with the loved ones, the members of the police zone and the entire police force,” Verlinden said.
The attack is the second knife-related incident involving police officers in Brussels this week.
On Monday, the police fired shots at a man who came at them with a knife in downtown Rue Locquenghien, near Sainte Catherine.
The man, who was said to have been drunk and disorderly, was in critical condition, according to the local press.
