A police officer succumbed to his injuries Thursday night after being attacked with a knife in Brussels. Another police officer was also attacked, he is currently hospitalized. The federal prosecutor’s office opened an investigation for “murder and attempted murder in a terrorist context” and entrusted it to the anti-terrorist services of the Belgian capital.
The suspect, struck by a return fire from another police officer, was arrested and hospitalized. But what do we know about this man?
• A 30-year-old man born in Belgium
The man suspected of having attacked the two police officers has been identified as Yassine M., born in Brussels in 1990, by investigators.
At the moment few things have been leaked about him, but he is of Belgian nationality and lives in Evere, a municipality northeast of the Brussels agglomeration, according to the Belgian newspaper. The night.
• First threats
The suspect was noticed just before the attack. Yassine M. did indeed threaten the police on the day of the tragedy. Brussels prosecutor Tim De Wolf said the man showed up at a police station in Evere on Thursday morning around 10am “making incoherent comments”.
“He was talking about hate against the police and asking for psychological support,” he added.
• Examined in a psychiatric clinic
Following the request of Yasmine M., the magistrate on duty decreed that the man should be treated by the psychiatric emergency service of a hospital in Brussels. However, no deprivation of liberty was imposed because Yassine M. did not meet the legal criteria for internment, according to the federal prosecutor’s office. The reason? The suspect himself had asked to be psychologically monitored.
Yasmine M. was then released during the day, before acting out at night and attacking the police. The prosecutor said that it should be investigated to determine whether or not the suspect has a psychiatric history.
• Known for justice
The ongoing investigation has yet to determine the motive of the attacker, but the terrorist trail is being studied. The suspect yelled “Allahu Akbar” during the assault on the two police officers, according to the federal prosecutor’s office.
Not unknown to the police and justice services, the man is a former detainee for common law crimes for which he spent time behind bars between 2013 and 2019.
In 2015 he assaulted a guard at the Ittre prison where he was being held, according to RTL Belgium. Yasmine M. was reportedly radicalized and transferred to a specialized wing, and her act was considered to be motivated by “extremist religious beliefs”.
• Archived by the anti-terrorist services
In addition, he was also listed as a “potentially violent extremist” by the Belgian body to analyze the terrorist threat (Ocam), the federal prosecutor’s office revealed on Friday. The list identifies people considered dangerous by the Belgian services.
The suspect must be heard by an investigating judge as soon as his state of health is considered compatible with a hearing.
Source: BFM TV
