Brussels shooting: Gunman who killed 2 Swedes shot dead; soccer team returns home

While the soccer match was suspended at halftime following the attack, Belgian authorities raised the terror alert to its highest level with Prime Minister Alexander De Croo suggesting that the act was linked to “terrorism”.

Latest reports say that Sweden players returned to their clubs on Tuesday after taking an overnight flight home from Brussels following the suspension of their European Championship qualifier against Belgium at halftime.

Shooter shot dead, weapon seized

While the shooting suspect was shot dead, a weapon believed to have been used by him has been recovered, Belgian Interior Minister Annelies Verlinden said on Tuesday (October 17).

Amateur videos posted on social media of Monday's attack showed a man wearing an orange fluorescent vest pull up on a scooter, take out a large weapon and open fire on passers-by before chasing them into a building to gun them down.

Authorities had been searching for a 45-year-old suspected Tunisian extremist who was known to police and was living in Belgium illegally.

“Last night, three people left for what was supposed to be a wonderful soccer party. Two of them lost their lives in a brutal terrorist attack,” Prime Minister Alexander De Croo had said at a news conference just before dawn. “Their lives were cut short in full flight, cut down by extreme brutality.” De Croo said his thoughts were with the victims' families and that he had sent his condolences to the Swedish prime minister.

In the wake of the shooting, security was beefed up in the capital, particularly around places linked to the Swedish community in the city.

Soccer game suspended

Not far from the scene of the shooting, the Belgium-Sweden soccer match in the Belgian national stadium was suspended at halftime and the 35,000 fans held inside as a precaution while the attacker was at large.

Prosecutor Eric Van Duyse said “security measures were urgently taken to protect the Swedish supporters” in the stadium.

More than two hours after the game was suspended, a message flashed on the big stadium screen saying, “Fans, you can leave the stadium calmly”.

Stand after stand emptied onto streets filled with police as the search for the attacker continued.

De Croo said the assailant was a Tunisian man living illegally in Belgium who used a military weapon to kill the two Swedes and shoot a third who is recovering from "severe injuries".

Federal Prosecutor Frederic Van Leeuw described how the suspect, a 45-year-old man who wasn't named, had posted a video online claiming to have killed three Swedish people.

The suspect is alleged to have said in the video that, for him, the Quran is “a red line for which he is ready to sacrifice himself”.

Sweden raised its terror alert to the second-highest level in August after a series of public Quran-burnings by an Iraqi refugee living in Sweden resulted in threats from Islamic militant groups.

Belgian prosecutors said overnight that nothing suggested the attack was linked to the latest war between Israel and Hamas.

‘Suspect was denied asylum in 2019’

According to Justice Minister Vincent Van Quickenborne, the suspect was denied asylum in 2019. He was known to police and had been suspected of involvement of human trafficking, living illegally in Belgium and of being a risk to state security.

Information provided to the Belgian authorities by an unidentified foreign government suggested that the man had been radicalised and intended to travel abroad to fight in a holy war. But the Belgian authorities were not able to establish this, so he was never listed as dangerous.

The man 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, Van Quickenborne said.

Belgian Asylum State Secretary Nicole de Moor said the man disappeared after his asylum application was refused so the authorities were unable to locate him to organise his deportation.

A terror alert for Brussels was raised overnight to 4, the top of Belgian's scale, indicating an extremely serious threat. It previously stood at 2, which means the threat was average. The alert level for the rest of the country was raised to 3.

How stadium was sealed to protect fans

The European Championship qualifier was being played some 3 miles (5 km) from the shooting in the center of the Belgian capital, and more than 35,000 fans attended the match.

Laura Demullier of the OCAD centre said in an interview that the highest priority for authorities following the shooting was to get thousands of football fans attending the Belgium-Sweden soccer match safely out of the stadium where the match had been abandoned half way through.

On Monday, with the suspect still at large and going after Swedes, Belgian authorities kept fans inside the venue for security reasons before they started the evacuation around midnight local time.

Fans chanted “All together, All together” inside the King Baudouin Stadium after the match was halted, with thousands of supporters from both sides also shouting “Sweden, Sweden!” Manu Leroy, the CEO of the Belgian soccer union, said he discovered 10 minutes before kickoff that “something serious” had happened in downtown Brussels.

“It was decided in the first place that the match should go ahead because the stadium was the safest place to be at the time, so that the fans could stay here and be safe,” he said.

Eric Van Duyse, spokesman for the federal prosecutor's office, told reporters the investigation was centering on “a possible terrorist motivation for the shooting.”

“During the evening, a claim of responsibility was posted on social media, having been recorded by a person claiming to be the assailant. This person claims to be inspired by Islamic State,” Van Duyse said.

“The Swedish nationality of the victims was put forward as the probable motive for the act,” Van Duyse while ruling out any link with the Israeli-Palestinian situation.

It was around 4 am local time when the last of the Swedish supporters — totaling about 650, according to the Swedish Football Association — left the stadium under police surveillance, along with some staff from the federation.

All hotels where Swedish supporters were staying were also guarded by police, the federation said.

Swedish players return home

The Swedish FA has told the media that the national-team players were now making their way back to their clubs.

They took an overnight flight home from Brussels following the suspension of their European Championship qualifier against Belgium.

The squad went directly to the airport and flew back to Sweden once they were allowed to leave King Baudouin Stadium, which was locked down for 2½ hours for security reasons before officials began an evacuation process around midnight local time.

(With inputs from agencies)