Can Brussels contain the gun violence shaking Saint-Gilles?
Police are investigating another burst of automatic gunfire in Saint-Gilles after a gunman opened fire near a pizzeria on Monday evening, the latest incident in a succession of shootings that has intensified pressure on Belgium’s federal government to…
In 30 seconds
- Automatic gunfire was reported at Place des Deux Bancs at about 21:00 on 24 August; nobody was injured and the shooter escaped.
- A man had been shot in the leg at the same location on 22 August; his life was not in danger.
- A bullet entered a home near Porte de Hal on 23 August without injuring the occupant.
- Police later seized four firearms and detained two suspects, but established no link to the recent shootings at the time of reporting.
Police are investigating another burst of automatic gunfire in , in Belgium’s -Capital Region, after a gunman fired near a pizzeria at Place des Deux Bancs at about 21:00 on Monday, 24 August. No one was injured in that incident and the shooter escaped, Mayor said, but customers, including children, had to take cover. The violence concerns Brussels as a city of residents and neighbourhoods; its role as the seat of Belgium’s federal government and the principal EU institutions raises its visibility, but does not change the essentially local public-safety emergency.
The shooting was the second in three days at Place des Deux Bancs and part of several firearms incidents in Saint-Gilles over three consecutive days. BX1 reported that a man was shot in the leg there on Saturday evening, without life-threatening injuries. On Sunday morning, another bullet entered the window of a home near Porte de Hal while its occupant was in bed. Further gunfire followed around Square Jacques Franck, where a person was reportedly injured. The precise connections between these cases have not been established publicly.
Spinette, a Socialist mayor, said the latest gunman used an automatic weapon and described comforting children who had been sitting at the restaurant. He has demanded about 80 additional federal judicial police officers for Brussels, arguing that local patrols can occupy dealing locations but cannot by themselves dismantle the financial and logistical networks behind the violence. Speaking to BX1, he called for investigators, financial expertise and stronger asset-confiscation capacity, rather than treating each shooting as an isolated disturbance. He is also considering formally requisitioning federal-police assistance under Article 43 of Belgium’s Police Service Act when local resources are insufficient to address a grave and imminent threat to public order.
Federal Interior Minister , of the liberal MR party, accepts that additional capacity is needed but disputes the suggestion that the federal level has neglected Brussels. He told BX1 that 77 personnel had already been added, around 40 structurally, and said more specialised recruits would be sought. Quintin also cited federal funding for cameras and urged authorities to stop trading blame. His interpretation is that the shootings may reflect criminal networks reacting to sustained police pressure—an assessment that has not yet been demonstrated for each individual case.
That disagreement matters because Belgium’s fragmented security architecture divides responsibilities among municipal police zones, the federal judicial police, prosecutors, prisons and different political levels. Saint-Gilles belongs to the Brussels-Midi police zone with and . Its chief, Jurgen De Landsheer, said after officers seized four firearms and detained two suspects overnight from Monday to Tuesday that investigators were still examining any possible connection with the recent shootings. Police explicitly said no link had yet been established, an important qualification amid political claims that the incidents form a single drug-related campaign.
The broader figures nevertheless show that this is not merely one alarming weekend. According to federal-police data reported independently by BX1 and BRUZZ, the Brussels region recorded 57 shootings during the first seven months of 2026, leaving two people dead and 21 injured. The corresponding full-year total for 2025 was 101 shootings, eight deaths and 43 injuries. Justice Minister said the violence illustrates the damage caused by organised crime and emphasised the burden on residents, police officers and magistrates. Brussels prosecutor Julien Moinil has likewise warned that stray gunfire can make any resident a victim.
Where this is happening
View on map Brussels →For people living, working or visiting near Porte de Hal, Place des Deux Bancs and Square Jacques Franck, the immediate issue is whether visible policing can prevent another shooting while investigators identify the gunmen and the networks supplying them. The PS and Vlaams Belang have requested parliamentary scrutiny, while Quintin has said he is available to the Chamber’s Interior Committee. The next tests are whether the federal government provides further investigators, whether local camera and prevention measures can be accelerated, and whether prosecutors can establish links among the shootings. Until then, the identity and motive of Monday’s shooter—and the extent to which the recent incidents were coordinated—remain unknown.
What to do
People living in or visiting Saint-Gilles should follow instructions from Brussels-Midi police around any secured scenes and avoid interfering with active investigations. Residents who witnessed the gunfire or possess relevant doorbell, phone or security-camera footage should preserve it and contact the police. The four seized firearms and two detentions do not yet mean the shootings have been solved: authorities had established no link at the time of reporting. Watch for announcements from Bernard Quintin and Annelies Verlinden on additional police or justice resources, and for prosecutorial updates identifying any connection between the incidents.
Impact
Regional — The immediate effects fall on Saint-Gilles and neighbouring municipalities in the Brussels-Midi police zone, while the wider succession of shootings affects confidence in public safety across all 19 Brussels municipalities.
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Voices & reactions
What the main actors are doing
Reported positions, summarised — not direct quotationsJean Spinette and Saint-Gilles municipal leadership
Spinette frames the shootings as evidence that local policing has reached its limits. He wants Brussels treated as a major capital facing organised criminal networks, with roughly 80 additional federal judicial investigators, financial expertise and stronger confiscation tools. His emphasis is on dismantling supply chains and criminal finances rather than relying principally on patrols, cameras or police-zone restructuring.
Bernard Quintin and the federal Interior Ministry
Quintin calls the violence unacceptable but argues that federal action is already under way, citing personnel reinforcements and camera funding. He rejects a simple Brussels-versus-federal narrative, urges authorities to stop exchanging blame and interprets the violence as a possible reaction to effective pressure on criminal groups. That interpretation remains broader policy framing, not a proven explanation for every shooting.
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