Can Brussels and federal leaders stop blaming each other as gun violence returns?
Two shootings wounded two people in Molenbeek and Saint-Gilles during the night of 23–24 August, prompting arrests in one case and a renewed dispute over whether federal underfunding or fragmented local governance is obstructing the response.
In 30 seconds
- Two people were wounded in separate shootings in Molenbeek and Saint-Gilles during the night of 23–24 August.
- Two suspects were arrested following the Saint-Gilles incident; no arrest was reported initially in the Molenbeek case.
- Federal police data cited by BRUZZ recorded 57 Brussels shootings, two deaths and 21 injuries through July 2026.
- The PS wants a joint parliamentary hearing with Interior Minister Bernard Quintin and Justice Minister Annelies Verlinden.
Two shootings wounded two people in during the night of Sunday 23 to Monday 24 August, as gun violence spread across Molenbeek and and political leaders reopened their argument over who must do more. According to the Brussels-West police zone, officers found a man with a gunshot wound to his lower leg near Avenue Jean Dubrucq in Molenbeek at around midnight; he was taken to hospital without life-threatening injuries, and no suspect had been arrested. At about 2.40am, Brussels-South police found another wounded person near Chaussée de Forest in Saint-Gilles and arrested two suspects during an initial search, BRUZZ reported. Police have not established publicly whether the incidents were connected.
The shootings followed an already violent weekend in the Brussels-South zone, which covers , Saint-Gilles and Forest. On Friday night, two masked attackers fired an automatic weapon at a largely vacant police building on Rue Démosthène in Anderlecht before fleeing on scooters. Further gunfire in Saint-Gilles injured a man in the leg on Saturday, while a bullet entered a resident’s bedroom near Porte de Hal on Sunday morning without hitting her. BRUZZ reported that investigators had not confirmed a link between the attack on the police building, the shootings and several vehicle fires.
The sequence continued on Monday evening, when shots were fired at Place des Deux Bancs in Saint-Gilles. Mayor said an automatic weapon had been used and customers in a nearby pizzeria had to lie on the floor, according to The Brussels Times and Belga. Nobody was injured in that incident. The repeated attacks turned a familiar argument about Brussels policing into an immediate test for the federal and recently formed Brussels governments.
Spinette, the Socialist Party mayor of Saint-Gilles, has asked for additional federal investigators capable of mapping criminal organisations, their finances and their command structures. He said Brussels should receive resources comparable with those directed towards Antwerp, Belgium’s principal cocaine-import hub. Brussels public prosecutor Julien Moinil has similarly warned that the capital’s federal judicial police remains roughly 80 investigators short, according to BRUZZ. Police chief Jurgen De Landsheer described the latest deterioration as a renewed destabilisation after a relatively quiet summer and said recruiters must prevent criminal groups from paying vulnerable young people to shoot at buildings or individuals, VRT NWS reported.
The Francophone Socialist opposition has placed responsibility squarely on the federal level. Federal MP Ridouane Chahid asked for a joint meeting of the Chamber’s Interior and Justice committees so that Federal Minister of Security and the Interior of the Reformist Movement and Federal Justice Minister of Christian Democratic and Flemish could be questioned. Chahid called for more investigators and police, stronger customs controls at Antwerp’s port and tighter measures against imprisoned crime bosses who allegedly continue directing violence.
Verlinden rejected the search for a single federal culprit. In an official statement on 23 August, she said the federal Arizona coalition was investing in police and justice but argued that local authorities must also confront school dropout, neighbourhood disorder, administrative enforcement, integration and the recruitment of young people by criminal networks. She called political blame-trading unhelpful while adding pointedly that local governments could no longer postpone difficult decisions or minimise problems. Brussels Socialist federation president Ahmed Laaouej, by contrast, accused Verlinden and Quintin of failing to provide sufficient capacity.
That disagreement reflects Belgium’s divided security architecture. Local patrols and neighbourhood policing belong primarily to six separate Brussels police zones, financed by municipalities and federal grants. Major organised-crime investigations fall to the federal judicial police under judicial direction, while prosecution staffing and prisons are federal Justice responsibilities. The Brussels-Capital Region coordinates prevention and security policy through safe.brussels but does not command the local zones as a single metropolitan force. Social policy, public-space management and administrative action against suspect businesses are divided again among the Region and 19 municipalities.
Prime Minister Bart De Wever’s federal coalition, in office since February 2025, committed itself to merging the six zones into one, arguing that a densely connected city needs unified command. Spinette and other local leaders maintain that a merger alone cannot replace missing investigators or sustained federal action against transnational drug networks. The newer Brussels government led by Minister-President has meanwhile promised a regional drugs commissioner, better camera sharing and stronger coordination. Dilliès called the weekend an “escalation of violence” that endangered people unconnected to drug trafficking.
Where this is happening
View on map Brussels →The figures explain the urgency but also require care. data cited by BRUZZ recorded 57 shootings across the 19 municipalities between January and July 2026, leaving two people dead and 21 injured. Brussels recorded 101 shootings, eight deaths and 43 injuries in all of 2025. Investigators believe many incidents arise from competition over drug-selling territory, but the motive and relationship between the latest cases remain unconfirmed.
The next institutional steps are now clear, even if the operational outcome is not. Quintin is due to visit Saint-Gilles, Moinil is expected to address the renewed violence, and Parliament must decide whether to convene the requested joint committee hearing. The harder questions concern delivery: how quickly vacant federal investigative posts can be filled, whether the police-zone merger will improve intelligence and deployment, and whether federal, regional and municipal authorities can agree on a joint plan before another burst of violence tests it.
What to do
Residents of Molenbeek, Saint-Gilles and Anderlecht should follow instructions from local police around active crime scenes and report gunfire or immediate danger through Belgium’s emergency number, 101. People with information about either shooting should contact police rather than intervene or circulate unverified identifications. The next concrete political development to watch is whether the parliamentary justice and interior committees grant the PS request for a joint hearing with Bernard Quintin and Annelies Verlinden. Brussels readers should also watch for decisions on the drugs commissioner, police-zone reform and changes to neighbourhood patrols or local prevention measures.
Impact
Regional — The direct impact falls on Molenbeek, Saint-Gilles and Anderlecht, particularly neighbourhoods in the Brussels-West and Brussels-South police zones. Region-wide consequences include pressure to accelerate the drugs commissioner, improve intelligence sharing and settle the future organisation of the six local police zones.
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Voices & reactions
What the main actors are doing
Reported positions, summarised — not direct quotationsBrussels PS mayors and federal opposition
Saint-Gilles Mayor Jean Spinette, Brussels PS president Ahmed Laaouej and federal MP Ridouane Chahid frame the central problem as inadequate federal capacity. They want more judicial investigators, stronger prosecution and prison controls, and greater action against international supply networks, including through Antwerp’s port.
Federal Justice Minister Annelies Verlinden
Verlinden argues that federal police and justice investment cannot solve the violence alone. Her official response places responsibility across all levels and stresses municipal and regional duties involving education, prevention, integration, neighbourhood enforcement and action against businesses used for criminal finance.
Federal police-zone merger strategy
Interior Minister Bernard Quintin and the federal coalition treat the division of Brussels into six police zones as an operational weakness requiring unified command and policy. Several Brussels mayors answer that restructuring governance will not compensate for shortages in specialised federal investigators.
Front-line Brussels police representatives
Police representatives quoted by BRUZZ reject the political exchange itself as a distraction. Their frame is practical rather than institutional: officers need staffing, investigative follow-through and coordinated decisions, regardless of which level ultimately supplies them.
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