What should residents do after gunfire erupts in a Brussels neighbourhood?

First seek substantial cover, preferably behind masonry or another solid structure, rather than merely hiding from view. Keep children low and away from windows. Silence your telephone, but retain it for emergency information. Do not film from a balcony, follow fleeing people or touch cartridge cases, weapons, vehicles or other objects that may be evidence.

In Belgium, the Federal Police advises calling 101 directly for urgent police assistance. Call 112 for an ambulance or the fire service; a request for police made through 112 in Belgium will be transferred to 101 and may therefore take longer. Give the operator the commune or gemeente, exact street, number or junction, the direction in which a person or vehicle travelled, and whether anyone appears injured. Distinguish clearly between what you saw and what you only heard.

The federal 112 BE application can transmit the caller's location and permits users to select police, ambulance or fire assistance. The official 112 service says an operator can enable chat when a caller cannot speak or hear. English can be used when a caller does not speak the local language, although service in a particular language cannot be guaranteed in every exchange. In bilingual Brussels, street names may appear in French and Dutch, so keeping both versions in a mapping application can help: Saint-Gilles is Sint-Gillis, Forest is Vorst and Porte de Hal is Hallepoort.

An immediate danger belongs on 101, not an online form. Once the danger has passed, a witness or victim can contact the Police Zone Midi/Politiezone Zuid. Its Parvis de Saint-Gilles commissariat is at Parvis de Saint-Gilles 1, 1060 Saint-Gilles, and its published telephone number is +32 2 559 86 00. The police website says non-urgent complaints there require an appointment; opening arrangements should be checked before travelling because they can change.

Write down the time, location, sequence of events and distinguishing details while they remain fresh. Preserve original photographs or recordings without editing or circulating them on social media, and tell investigators where they were made. Avoid publicly identifying suspected perpetrators or publishing recognisable images of frightened children and uninvolved bystanders. Those precautions protect both the investigation and the people caught in it.

Anyone directly affected can ask the zone's Service d’Assistance Policière aux Victimes/Politionele Slachtofferbejegening for guidance. The Saint-Gilles service publishes the number 02 559 85 74. Belgium's Justice Ministry also explains that a complainant may file a déclaration de personne lésée, or verklaring van benadeelde persoon, using the standard form associated with the complaint. This status can provide information about decisions such as dismissal of the case or the opening of a judicial investigation, but it is not itself a claim for compensation.

The repeated incidents have shaken the everyday life that makes lower Saint-Gilles attractive to long-term residents, newcomers and visitors: dense streets, terraces, schools and quick links to the city centre. The significance of Monday's shooting lies precisely in that collision between armed violence and an unremarkable evening meal. The phrase reported by BX1 — “des enfants qui étaient attablés à la terrasse de la pizzeria” — describes bystanders, not participants in a criminal dispute.

Residents nevertheless need proportionate information rather than either reassurance without evidence or claims that the whole commune is unsafe. Police Zone Midi said in March 2026 that it had increased visible patrols, targeted checks and surveillance in the areas most affected by shootings, with assistance from other Brussels zones and the Federal Police. Such deployment may reduce immediate risk and improve public confidence, but investigations, prosecutions and disruption of firearms and drug-trafficking networks require longer-term judicial capacity.

Spinette argues that local officers are already making arrests and seizures but need federal reinforcement. He told BX1 that he was considering using Article 43 of the Law on the Police Function to request Federal Police support when a grave and imminent threat to public order exceeds local capacity. He also said Interior Minister Bernard Quintin would visit Saint-Gilles on Tuesday, but BX1 reported that the minister's office denied that a visit was scheduled. That contradiction should be resolved through official announcements rather than inference.

What happens next depends on forensic work, witness testimony and whether investigators can connect the recent shootings. Residents should watch the official channels of Police Zone Midi, the commune of Saint-Gilles/Sint-Gillis and the Brussels public prosecutor for confirmed measures or appeals. Until then, the useful balance is vigilance without vigilantism: know the emergency numbers, report precise facts, protect children and witnesses, and resist allowing an unresolved shooting to define an entire neighbourhood.