Man wounded in suspected drug-linked shooting in Saint-Gilles

Updated: 23 August 2026, 12:00 CEST

A man was wounded in a shooting in Saint-Gilles, Brussels, on Saturday evening, 22 August, and was taken for treatment with injuries that were not life-threatening, Mayor Jean Spinette told Belga, according to BRUZZ. The shooting happened near the junction of Rue Gustave Defnet and Chaussée de Forest, close to a small square known locally as Place des Deux Bancs.

Spinette, who visited the scene, told Belga that the shooting was probably a confrontation between drug dealers. That assessment remains preliminary: BRUZZ reported that investigators were still working to establish the circumstances, and no suspect, motive or arrest had been officially announced by late Sunday morning. Police maintained a security perimeter at about 23:00 on Saturday, the broadcaster added.

The violence followed an attack on a police building in Anderlecht late Friday. The Brussels-Midi police zone said officers were called to Rue Démosthène at about 23:40 after shots struck the station’s façade, The Brussels Times reported. No one was injured, and two suspects reportedly escaped on an electric scooter. The Brussels prosecutor’s office sent a ballistics expert and the federal judicial police laboratory to examine the scene, according to the same report.

The Anderlecht building was closed to the public during that attack, although some police departments still use it, The Brussels Times said. Investigators have not said whether the Saint-Gilles shooting and the attack on the station are connected. Treating them as part of one operation would therefore go beyond the confirmed evidence.

The two incidents nevertheless sharpen concern about gun violence around Brussels drug markets. In June, the Federal Judicial Police said an investigation begun in 2025 had uncovered a multi-level organisation supplying and distributing drugs around several Brussels sales points, including Saint-Guidon and Peterbos. Twenty-seven people were detained during the May operation, while firearms, drugs and cash were seized, according to the federal police.

For residents of Saint-Gilles and Anderlecht, the immediate issue is public safety in densely populated streets rather than the presumed affiliation of those involved. Investigators are expected to analyse ballistic evidence and camera footage, identify the gunmen and determine whether either incident arose from organised drug crime. The victim’s identity, the weapon used in Saint-Gilles and any connection between the weekend attacks remain unknown.