One police officer killed, two others injured in shooting during house arrest in Charleroi

One police officer was killed and two others were injured during a house arrest in the Walloon city of Charleroi on Monday morning, reports RTBF.

The police officers from a special unit of the federal police were making a house arrest in the Lodelinsart area when the suspect opened fire on them.

A 36-year-old officer died and a 33-year-old colleague was critically injured. The life of the second inured officer, 34, is not in danger.

Charleroi prosecutor Vincent Fiasse told a press conference on Monday that the house search was part of an investigation involving criminal conspiracy and drug, vehicle and arms trafficking. It was “reinforced given the profile of the suspect”.

The police tactical unit (DSU) arrived on the scene at around 6.30. They identified themselves as police and first made contact with a woman in the house, according to the prosecutor.

“Almost immediately, they faced a person behind a door who took out his hand weapon and fired several times,” he said. “He almost emptied his magazine on the police officers who were intervening. Several police officers were hit.”

The team on site carried out the necessary measures to evacuate the injured officers and called in reinforcements while the suspect remained behind the door, said Fiasse.

The reinforcement team who took over the scene went behind the door and saw that the suspect was injured. “He was transferred to hospital and is deceased,” he confirmed.

An investigation has been opened into the shootings carried out by the suspect, the murder of one of the police officers and the attempted murder of the other police officer, added Fiasse.

Dark day for Belgian police

It is “a dark day for the Belgian police, the federal police and more particularly for our special units,” declared federal police commissioner general Eric Snoeck.

“Our special units, like the entire federal police, are professionals. They do everything to avoid an accident,” he explained, pointing out that the search had been planned. “Despite this, it was not enough to avoid an incident which is unprecedented in the recent history of the federal police,” he said.

Interior minister Annelies Verlinden also described Monday as a “black day” for the police force "The police know that from time to time they are confronted with unforeseen situations. They do everything to avoid tragedies. They are professional, they are well equipped. But today, we could not avoid the violence by one person,” she said.

Justice minister Paul Van Tigchelt described the incident as "a nightmare for each and everyone who tries to do their best to guarantee our security".

Posting on X (formerly Twitter) prime minister Alexander De Croo said his thoughts were with the families and loved ones of the dead officer and the one currently fighting for his life. “The work of our law enforcers deserves respect. Targeting them is despicable and will never go unpunished.”

Photo: Site of police operation in Lodelinsart, Charleroi ©Belga/Virginie Lefour