Automatic weapon attack on police station in Anderlecht, Belgium
Two armed and masked individuals opened fire on a police station in Anderlecht, Brussels. Belgium's interior minister expressed himself as "deeply shocked".
Gunfire at Anderlecht police station: Belgian interior minister condemns attack
At least ten rounds from an automatic weapon were fired in the early hours of Saturday morning at the façade of a police station in Anderlecht, one of the 19 municipalities in the Brussels Capital Region, according to Google News RO — Crime. No one was injured, although multiple bullet marks are visible on the building, according to images broadcast by Belgian media.
"I am deeply shocked by the attack on the police station in Anderlecht," said Belgian Interior Minister Bernard Quintin, describing the incident as an "unacceptable attack". Quintin specified that two hooded individuals opened fire with an automatic weapon at the building.
"In the face of such acts of intimidation, we will never abandon our determination to fight firmly against organised crime and drug trafficking, on the contrary!" the minister assured, quoted by AFP.
Surveillance footage and escape by scooter
Surveillance camera recordings, broadcast by Belgian media, clearly show a hooded individual firing a weapon at the police station's façade. Immediately afterwards, he flees with an accomplice on an electric scooter.
Jürgen De Landsheer, head of the local police in Anderlecht, cited by Flemish television station VRT, assessed that it is "likely" the attack constituted an act of retaliation against law enforcement, following their operations against drug trafficking in this popular and disadvantaged area of the Belgian capital.
Context marked by drug-related violence
Anderlecht is not experiencing its first incident of this kind. In February 2025, the municipality was the scene of several drug-trafficking related settling of scores, resulting in two deaths.
Across Brussels as a whole, in 2024 there were nine deaths and 48 injured persons in 92 firearms incidents related to drug trafficking, according to data from the Belgian federal police.
Source: Google News RO — Crime (ro)