Thread: Attack in Belgium leaves 5 dead, 122 wounded

December 13, 2011 8:58 AM PrintText

Attack in Belgium leaves 5 dead, 122 wounded

(CBS/AP) Last Updated 6:45 p.m. ET

LIEGE, Belgium - A man armed with grenades and an assault rifle attacked holiday shoppers Tuesday at a central square in the Belgian city of Liege. Five people died, including the attacker, and 122 others were wounded, officials said.

It was not immediately clear what motivated the attack in the busy Place Saint-Lambert square, the central entry point to downtown shopping streets in the city in eastern Belgium. The attack prompted hundreds of shoppers to stampede down old city streets, fleeing explosions and bullets.

Interior Ministry official Peter Mertens said the attack did not involve terrorism but did not explain why he thought that.

Belgian officials identified the attacker as Norodine Amrani, 33, a Liege resident who they said had done jail time for offenses involving guns, drugs and sexual abuse. He was among the dead, but Liege Prosecutor Danielle Reynders told reporters it was unclear if he committed suicide or died by accident. He did not die at the hands of police, she said.

The other dead were two teenage boys, 15 and 17, and a 75-year-old woman, she said. The La Libre newspaper reported that a 2-year-old girl was clinging to life.

Reynders said Amrani had been summoned for police questioning on Tuesday but the reason for that was not clear. He still had a number of grenades with him when he died, she said.

Officials said Amrani left his home in Liege with a backpack, armed with hand grenades, a revolve and an FAL assault rifle. He walked alone to the central square, then got onto a platform that gave him an ideal view of the square below, which was bedecked with a huge Christmas tree and crowded with shoppers.

From there, Amrani lobbed three hand grenades toward a nearby bus shelter, which serves 1,800 buses a day, then opened fire upon the crowd. The explosions sent shards of glass from the bus shelter across a wide area.

"I heard a loud boom," said witness Dimitri Degryse. "I thought it was something on my car that was broken or something. Then a few seconds after a second boom, and I saw all the glass breaking, I saw people running, screaming."

As soon as the shooting began, hundreds fled the square as well as a nearby Christmas market. Video from the scene showed people, including a large group of children, rampaging through the city center to seek cover, some still carrying shopping bags.

As police hunted for possible accomplices, residents were ordered to stay in their homes or seek shelter in shops or public buildings. As sirens howled and a police chopper roared overhead, a medical post was set up in the nearby courtyard of the Prince Bishops courthouse. Dozens of emergency vehicles took victims away for treatment.

Police closed off the area but found no accomplices and calm returned a few hours after.

News reports had variously put the number of attackers at between one and three men. However, Mertens said that there was only one attacker.

Emergency medical teams were called in from as far away as the Netherlands, Mertens said.

An unidentified man who was wounded in the attack told Belgium's VRT television network that "someone threw grenades and fired shots."

Valerie Schaaps, a spokeswoman for the prosecutors office in Brussels, confirmed there had been explosions and gunfire, causing injuries.

The Place Saint-Lambert and the nearby Place du Marche host Liege's annual Christmas market, which consists of 200 tiny shops and attracts some 1.5 million visitors a year. By dusk, with the Christmas lights gleaming again, King Albert II and Queen Paola came to pay their respects, as did Prime Minister Elio Di Rupo.

Herman Van Rompuy, a former Belgian prime minister who is now president of the European Council, said he was badly shaken by the attack.

"There is no explanation whatsoever," Van Rompuy said. "It leaves me perplexed and shocked."

http://www.cbsnews.com/8301-202_162-573 ... 2-wounded/

Hmmmm. . . 'Norodine Amrani' does not sound like a Belgian name. Where did he come from??? Where was he born?? What was his religion?? Why are we not receiving these details from the MSM??

Man Kills 4 in Grenade and Gun Attack at Belgian Bus Shelter

By JAMES KANTER
Published: December 13, 2011

LIÈGE, Belgium — A man with a history of run-ins with the law lobbed three hand grenades and opened fire at a crowded central bus stop here Tuesday, killing several people, wounding scores and creating a panic before killing himself, officials said.

Rescuers evacuated injured people at Saint Lambert Square in Liège after a grenade attack on Tuesday.

No motive was immediately established, though the Interior Ministry said it was not related to terrorism, for which European cities have long been on alert.

Three victims died on the spot and at least one died later at a hospital, Belgian news reports said. The attacker was identified as Norodine Amrani, 33, of Liège, who received a 58-month prison sentence for drug and gun offenses in 2008. He had been summoned to appear before the police on Tuesday, suggesting that his attack was some sort of desperate final lashing out. The reason for the questioning was not clear.

The attack took place just after noon at a crowded bus stop in Place St.-Lambert, a hub of the Old City that hosts an annual Christmas market and is the site of a main courthouse building. Liège is in eastern Belgium and is the country’s third-largest city, after Brussels and Antwerp.

“I saw a lot of blood splashed over parts of the square,â€

About the shooter:

. . . One witness told RTBF radio: "He had a bag. He got a grenade out of his bag. He threw the grenade at the bus stop. . .

. . . "Then he had a Kalashnikov (rifle). He shot in all directions. Then everyone ran to try to save themselves. Then he got a revolver out and put a bullet in his head.". . .

. . . "He was calm, every time I met him in the corridor he was very friendly and said 'Hi'," he told Reuters. "If my memory serves me right, he was a welder.". . .

. . .It was not clear whether Amrani was Belgian. . .

http://news.yahoo.com/gunman-turns-belg ... 30131.html

. . .It was not clear whether Amrani was Belgian

Well. it is clear 'Amrani' is not a Belgian name!! He might be an immigrant to Belgium from elsewhere.

. . . Born in Belgium of Moroccan descent, he grew up near Brussels, according to the portrait that emerged from Belgian news reports, and was living with a nurse. Orphaned early, he was raised in foster homes. He was fascinated with firearms, and skilled at repairing them. In 2008, he received a 58-month prison sentence after he was found to have 9,500 weapons parts and several complete weapons, as well as 2,800 marijuana plants. But he was freed before the end of the term. . .

http://www.nytimes.com/2011/12/15/world ... ttack.html