Three consecutive days of shootings in Saint-Gilles

The mayor of Saint-Gilles has said that he is "furious" after three consecutive days of gun violence in the municipality.

The latest incident occurred on Monday evening at about 21.00 outside a pizza restaurant at the junction of Chaussée de Forest and Rue de Monténégro. No one was injured and the perpetrator has not been caught.

A man was shot in the leg on Saturday at around 21.15 at the same junction. That man received first aid before being taken to hospital and a suspect is being actively sought.

Then, on Sunday morning, a gunshot was fired at about 7.00 on Chaussée de Forest, near Porte de Hal in Saint-Gilles, and the bullet ended up in the window of a house on Rue Fontainas.

The occupant of the house where the bullet lodged was still in bed at the time and was not injured. The bedroom was cordoned off pending the findings of the police forensic laboratory.

These incidents occurred just hours after shots were fired at a police station in the same police zone, during the night from Friday to Saturday, at around 0.40, several shots were fired on Rue Démosthène in Anderlecht. Bullet holes were found and two suspects on a scooter fled the scene. No one was injured.

“Brussels must be respected,” said Saint-Gilles mayor Jean Spinette (PS), who is calling for the same resources as those granted to Antwerp, including 80 additional officers for the criminal investigation department, in order to conduct thorough investigations and “trace the networks”.

The mayor, who spoke to public prosecutor Julien Moinil on the phone on Sunday morning, is also calling for more resources for the public prosecutor’s office, more places in the IPPJ (juvenile detention centre) and the capacity to deport undocumented migrants involved in criminal activity.

Spinette believes the recently approved merger of Brussels’ police zones is not, in itself, the solution to rising crime in the Belgian capital.

The Brussels public prosecutor’s office stated that investigations are continuing in order to “identify and arrest the perpetrators”.

Brussels minister-president Boris Dilliès (MR) also issued a statement on Sunday evening, referring to “an escalation of violence”.

“This is a painful reminder that this violence, which supposedly takes place between rival gangs, also affects people who have nothing to do with this drug trade, right in their own homes, in their living rooms,” Dilliès said.

“We cannot accept this. We will never give up on Brussels.”