The man armed with a knife arrested Monday in front of the headquarters of the Chancellery of the Belgian Prime Minister in Brussels is apparently unbalanced, in a state of recidivism, and a psychiatric expertise was requested in the investigation opened for “attempted murder”.
On Tuesday, the public prosecutor’s office in the Belgian capital made an initial update on this incident which did not cause any injuries, but after which Prime Minister Alexander De Croo said he “very shocked”.
Monday around 10 a.m., a 29-year-old man, whose identity was not specified, approached the two soldiers on guard in front of the offices of the head of the federal government, at 16 rue de la Loi in Brussels, in brandishing a knife.
He then made incoherent comments. Fortunately, he was quickly subdued by the military after agreeing to put down his bladed weapon.
Even if his motivations “are not yet clear”an investigation was entrusted to an investigating judge to “attempted murder” et “prohibited possession of weapons” because the suspect was already involved in similar incidents last year.
In April 2024, this man tried to attack a security agent at the United States embassy, located not far away, at the Arts-Loi intersection with a knife. “In this case, a judicial investigation had already been opened and the suspect was subject to forced admission to a psychiatric hospital”added the prosecution.
On the day of this attempted attack, April 9, 2024, the suspect was visibly under the influence of alcohol or drugs. The police quickly intervened and he allowed himself to be arrested. «sans incident»according to the story from the Belga agency that day.
Belgium
