Manhunt after ‘machine gun’ is fired into a restaurant in Brussels
A manhunt is underway in Brussels this morning after a machine gun was used to fire three shots into the window of a restaurant in the city centre.
An eyewitness said a Kalashnikov assault rifle was fired at the property at around 10am on the Belgian capital’s upmarket Avenue Louise shopping street. The male suspect then fled from the scene.
Officers said the motive was unclear but the spokesperson for the prosecutors office, Ine Van Wymersch, said it was not believed to have been a terrorist attack.
Nobody was hurt in the shooting, with the restaurant closed at the time.
A man has fired three shots into the window of a restaurant in central Brussels on this morning before fleeing, police said (file picture)
Wymersch said: ‘A witness saw a man shoot with a Kalashnikov-style weapon in the direction of the window of a restaurant on Avenue Louise.
‘At the scene, police found three bullet impacts. For now, we are not aware of any injuries.’
Forensic officers and ballistics experts have been sent to the scene.
Belgium has been under heightened security since March 2016 when terror attacks at Brussels’ airport and on its metro left 32 people dead.
In May, a Belgian prison inmate stabbed two officers in eastern Liege and used their handguns to kill them and a bystander. ISIS claimed responsibility for the bloodshed, which also involved a fourth victim.
More follows.