Police officer killed during operation in Jette

A police officer died in the line of duty in the Brussels region after being shot while approaching a vehicle reported as stolen following a carjacking in Tubize.

Officer Nordine El Talbi was 41 years old and a member of the Anti-Aggression Brigade (BAA) for the Brussels-Capital/Ixelles area, a unit deployed in particular during high-risk operations.

The perpetrator(s) were apprehended and Belgium’s interior minister Bernard Quintin (MR) said that they would “face the full force of the law”. 

The minister offered his condolences to the officer’s family and loved ones, as well as to his colleagues. 

“We stand by them as they go through these particularly difficult times,” he said. 

Prime minister Bart De Wever also offered condolences. 

“Our police zone is in mourning,” a Brussels-Capital/Ixelles police zone spokesperson said. 

“At this particularly painful time, our entire police force stands united in remembrance and solidarity.”

The public prosecutor’s office is conducting an investigation to establish the exact circumstances of the tragedy.

What is currently known is that on 12 October, the Walloon Brabant police district received a call at about 23.10 from a resident of Anderlecht who reported having been violently carjacked in Tubize by four masked and armed individuals. 

Using the vehicle’s GPS tracking and ANPR cameras, several police teams set off in pursuit, and the Anti-Assault Brigade eventually located the vehicle on a street in Jette.

Two police teams then took up surveillance positions. El Talbi, a highly experienced plain-clothes officer, approached on foot to carry out an initial reconnaissance. His colleagues later found him fatally shot in the head near the vehicle.

Three weapons were found on the ground, along with a large quantity of drugs inside the car. Several people have already been arrested and are in custody. 

The incident has been classified as murder with aggravating circumstances, as El Talbi was killed while working in a position of authority. This offence is punishable by life imprisonment.

The public prosecutor’s office is not yet disclosing either the profiles of those arrested or the evidence gathered, citing a very high risk of collusion and the destruction of evidence, which could compromise the investigation.   

Michel Goovaerts, chief of police for the Brussels-Capital/Ixelles police zone, spoke about Nordine El Talbi in a press conference.

“Nordine joined the police in 2009 before moving to the Anti-Assault Brigade in 2019, where he displayed tremendous professionalism,” Goovaerts said.

“We know this job involves risks, but we are never prepared to face such realities.” 

A ceremony in tribute to the police officer will be held on Friday at 11.00, likely in Cinquantenaire Park. 

Brussels mayor Philippe Close (PS) announced that a book of condolences is available at the reception desk of Brussels city hall for all those who wish to pay their respects, until Friday when it will then be handed over to the officer’s family.

“The police profession is a difficult one,” Close said. 

“We know that, but some people don’t always appreciate the risks these men and women take every day to protect others.

"They do so with a huge sense of responsibility, sometimes at the risk of their own lives. Let us never forget that these public servants watch over our safety every day."