Several people were injured in a shooting near the Sint-Antoniusplein in the Brussels suburb of Vorst on Tuesday. "Several victims were hospitalised but are not in a critical condition," Brussels-South police say.
The shooting in Vorst happened around 1AM on Tuesday night. It took place in the Fierlantstraat, near the Sint-Antoniusplein. "Several people were injured in the incident," Brussels South Zone police confirm. "They were taken to hospital for treatment, but no one is in a critical condition."
The police are fully engaged in an investigation. An examining judge has been appointed to head the enquiry. Three people were reportedly seriously injured; four men fled the scene after the shooting.
"We hear from local residents that drugs are occasionally dealt in the area. The violence is being attributed to rivalry between drug gangs," says VRT NEWS’s Helen Goedgebeur.
"A lot of local residents saw or heard the incident because they were still awake due to the Ramadan. The trouble started around 6PM. At a little after 1AM on Tuesday night, the situation escalated into a shoot-out. After that, the square was littered with bullet casings. Traces of blood were also visible."
"This is another case of violence in a residential area in Brussels, here close to a primary school. Local residents are up in arms and say that this really has to stop. Stray bullets ended up in parked cars and the windows of an apartment building. One woman even got a bullet in her fridge," says our reporter.
It is not the first shooting incident in the Brussels municipality of Vorst. In mid-February, a man was shot at a bus shelter after three attackers had first tried to abduct him.