Presented as “Yassine M.”, a 32-year-old Belgian born and domiciled in Brussels, the suspect was on file with the Belgian terrorist threat analysis agency (Ocam), the federal prosecutor’s office revealed on Friday during a conference. Press.
“He was known to justice for common law offenses which led to his being detained between 2013 and 2019,” the same source added.
According to the account of the Brussels public prosecutor’s office, he had presented himself on the morning of the facts to a police station in the Belgian capital asking to be “supported at the psychological level”.
“He made incoherent remarks, spoke of hatred against the police,” said Brussels prosecutor Tim De Wolf.
After the advice of a magistrate, he was accompanied by police officers to the psychiatric unit of Saint-Luc hospital, where he was cared for by nurses.
He was then able to leave the hospital under conditions that the investigation will have to clarify.
According to the prosecutor, Yassine M. “did not meet the legal criteria” for compulsory confinement because he was “voluntary” to receive treatment. A law of 1990 strictly regulates the restrictions of freedom for people suffering from psychiatric disorders.
– “Unacceptable violence” –
The deadly attack occurred on Thursday around 7:15 p.m. (6:15 p.m. GMT) in the Brussels municipality of Schaerbeek, in the district of Brussels-North station.
The suspect, armed with a knife, attacked a police vehicle stopped at a red light, and the policeman driving received “a blow to the height of the throat”, detailed the federal prosecutor’s office.
The assailant then moved towards the passenger, struck in the right arm. The latter was able to call other police officers, he said he heard the suspect shout “Allah Akhbar” (“God is the greatest”), according to the same source.
Yassine M. was the target of fire from a patrol arriving as reinforcements, and “wounded by bullets”, he was taken to hospital.
The police officer hit in the throat, Thomas M., 29, did not survive, while his colleague, Jason P. (23) “was admitted to the emergency room where he was operated on that night”, still according to the federal prosecutor’s office. He is now out of danger.
As of Thursday evening, Prime Minister Alexander De Croo paid tribute to the victim and to an entire profession “who risk their lives on a daily basis to ensure the safety of our citizens”. Interior Minister Annelies Verlinden denounced “unacceptable violence”.
– “The event too many” –
A police union announced a day of action on November 28, citing “one too many events”.
Beyond the psychological profile of the suspect, the investigation opened for “assassination and attempted assassination in a terrorist context” should look into his prison career.
In prison, where he was serving a sentence for “robbery with violence”, his behavior deteriorated from 2015, a source familiar with the matter told AFP. He was placed in a “Deradex section” (reserved for radicalized prisoners).
According to Ocam, Yassine M. was mentioned on “a common database containing around 700 names”, shared by all the security services in Belgium.
The list identifies “known extremists and terrorists in the country who are the subject of priority monitoring,” a spokesman for the federal agency told AFP.
Since the jihadist attacks in Brussels (32 dead on March 22, 2016), Belgium has been the scene of several attacks against soldiers and police officers.
The last attack considered “terrorist” occurred in Liège (east) on May 29, 2018, when a 31-year-old radicalized offender shot and killed two police officers and a student, shouting “Allah Akbar” several times. He was then shot dead by the police.
