There has been yet another shooting in the Brussels municipality of Anderlecht. The latest incident, the third shooting in Anderlecht in three days, occurred on the Peterbos social housing complex at around 4am on Friday. Unlike the shootings in the early mornings of Wednesday and Thursday, 1 person was killed in Friday morning’s shooting.
1 person killed in 3rd shooting in 3 days in the Brussels municipality of Anderlecht.
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Like the area around the Clemenceau metro station, the Peterbos Estate has long had issues with drug-related crime. The estate that consists of several high-rise blocks, is an island of deprivation in the relatively green and suburban west of Anderlecht.
The man that was shot dead has not yet been identified. The exact circumstances surround the shooting are being investigated and forensics officers have been dispatched to the scene.
"A war between mafia clans"
The mayor of Anderlecht Fabrice Cumps (Francophone socialist) told VRT News that the violence in his municipality is linked to drugs. "You don’t have to be a genius to deduce that these shootings are linked. This is probably revenge for shootings at Clemenceau. This is a war between mafia clans that are trying to control their territory.
However, the police are somewhat more cautious about reaching any conclusions just yet and “all avenues of investigation are still open”.
Brussels Chief Prosecutor Frédéric Van Leeuw told VRT Radio’s morning news and current affairs programme ‘De ochtend’ that “The identity of the victim can serve as a pointer to the motive”. Mr Van Leeuw added that it is crucial that police and prosecutors get a better insight into way in which criminal gangs are structured. The information acquired during the investigation into the SkyECC encrypted telephone could assist with this.
“This information is still there, but we need to find other means and recruit new expertise to the Federal Judicial Police such as analysts that can go through the data and give us an accurate picture”.
Mr Van Leeuw went on to say that those at the head of the organisations behind the violence are often based elsewhere. “The people that are pulling the strings don’t live in Peterbos. There are very many good people that live there too and for them this is a drama”.