Who is responsible for stopping Brussels’ latest wave of shootings?
A gunman fired an automatic weapon in Sint-Gillis at around 9pm on Monday, the third consecutive day of shootings in the municipality, without injuring anyone.
In 30 seconds
- Automatic-weapon fire was reported in Sint-Gillis at about 9pm on 24 August; nobody was injured.
- The incident was the third consecutive day with reported shootings in Sint-Gillis.
- An Anderlecht police station was hit by 12 bullets late on 21 August; no officers were injured.
- PS requested a joint hearing of the Chamber’s Home Affairs and Justice committees.
A gunman fired an automatic weapon at Place des Deux Bancs in Sint-Gillis at around 9pm on Monday, 24 August, without injuring anyone, Mayor confirmed to BRUZZ. The attacker escaped, and investigators have not established publicly whether the shooting was connected to the other recent attacks in . Federal Minister of Security and the Interior was due to visit Sint-Gillis on Tuesday as political pressure mounted over six shooting incidents reported across the capital within several days.
Monday’s shots were fired near the junction of Rue Gustave Defnet, Rue de Montenegro and Chaussée de , according to BRUZZ. It was the third consecutive day on which gunfire was reported in Sint-Gillis. A man was shot in the leg at the same junction on Saturday evening but was not in life-threatening condition. On Sunday morning, a bullet struck a bedroom window near Porte de Hal while the resident was inside. Early on Monday, another person was wounded on Chaussée de Forest; police detained two suspects in that investigation.
The violence extends beyond one municipality. Unknown assailants fired repeatedly at a Brussels-South police station in late on Friday, leaving 12 bullet impacts but causing no injuries, BRUZZ reported. A man was also shot in the lower leg in Molenbeek during the night from Sunday to Monday. Authorities have not confirmed that these incidents form one campaign, and the possible relationship between the attack on the police station and violence around drug-selling locations remains an important unanswered question.
For residents, that distinction offers little immediate comfort. Bullets have struck a home, people have been wounded in public space and police officers say they feel targeted. Luciano Giammorcaro, a representative of Brussels police personnel quoted by BRUZZ, urged politicians to produce solutions instead of exchanging what he called childish reproaches. The practical test is whether additional patrols can restore security while investigators identify the organisers, weapons and financial structures behind the street-level violence.
The political argument reflects Belgium’s divided security architecture. Mayors are responsible for administrative policing and public order in their municipalities, while local police zones conduct neighbourhood work and routine interventions. The federal government controls the , including the specialised Federal Judicial Police that investigates organised criminal networks. Justice Minister Annelies Verlinden oversees federal justice policy, but prosecutors and investigating judges make operational decisions independently.
Spinette, the Socialist Party mayor of Sint-Gillis, argues that local officers are arresting dealers while lacking the federal investigative capacity needed to dismantle the organisations replacing them. He has demanded resources comparable to those provided to Antwerp and endorsed Brussels public prosecutor Julien Moinil’s warning that the capital’s Federal Judicial Police remains understaffed. Spinette has also called for greater prosecution capacity, sufficient places in French-speaking youth institutions and an effective response when offenders have no legal right to remain in Belgium.
Brussels PS president Ahmed Laaouej has put responsibility squarely on Quintin and Verlinden, saying the federal ministers have not done enough. PS federal MP Ridouane Chahid has requested an urgent joint meeting of the Chamber’s Home Affairs and Justice committees. Chahid wants both ministers questioned and argues that the response must include stronger customs controls at the Port of Antwerp, more investigators and safeguards against criminal leaders directing violence from prison.
Verlinden, a Christian Democrat, has pushed back against the Brussels Socialists. In a public response reported by BRUZZ, she said local authorities could no longer avoid difficult choices, postpone problems or minimise them, while insisting that the search for solutions should take precedence over assigning blame. That frame treats local governance and deployment decisions as part of the problem, not merely a shortage to be repaired by federal personnel.
A second fault line concerns police organisation. Parliament approved Quintin’s legislation in May to replace Brussels’ six local police zones with one force from 1 January 2028, backed by €65 million in federal transition funding. Quintin argues that a single command and intervention structure will reduce the operational barriers created by municipal boundaries. Spinette and other opponents say reorganisation does not itself supply the investigators, patrol officers, prosecutors or prevention services needed now. PS, PTB-PVDA and DéFI voted against the merger, while the federal majority, Anders and most Ecolo-Groen MPs supported it.
Where this is happening
View on map Brussels →This dispute falls early in the 2024–29 federal and regional legislative cycle, but Brussels’ institutions remain under particular strain. Criminal markets cross municipal borders easily; democratic accountability, budgets and police command have historically been dispersed among 19 municipalities and six zones. The merger may improve coordination in the longer term, yet it cannot explain every present failure or substitute for a criminal investigation.
The next factual milestones are therefore more important than the political rhetoric: Quintin’s response after visiting Sint-Gillis, Moinil’s announced briefing on the violence, any decision to recall the parliamentary committees, and evidence linking—or separating—the individual attacks. Until investigators disclose that evidence, descriptions of a single organised offensive or a settled drug-gang conflict should be treated as hypotheses rather than established fact.
What to do
People in Sint-Gillis and Anderlecht should follow commune and police-zone notices for temporary cordons or access restrictions around incident sites and report gunfire or immediate danger through Belgium’s emergency number, 101. Residents whose homes or vehicles are damaged should document the damage and contact police and their insurer. The next concrete political steps are any joint hearing of the Chamber’s Home Affairs and Justice committees and decisions on federal support. The structural deadline to watch is 1 January 2028, when Brussels’ six police zones are due to become one force.
Impact
Regional — The immediate impact falls on Sint-Gillis, Anderlecht and the wider Brussels-Capital Region. Repeated deployments draw officers toward emergency response, while residents, schools, businesses and social services around known dealing locations face disruption and declining confidence in public institutions.
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Voices & reactions
What the main actors are doing
Reported positions, summarised — not direct quotationsSint-Gillis mayor and Brussels PS
Mayor Jean Spinette and Brussels PS president Ahmed Laaouej frame the shootings primarily as evidence of insufficient federal capacity. They want more Federal Judicial Police investigators, stronger prosecution resources and treatment comparable to Antwerp so that authorities can dismantle networks rather than repeatedly replace arrested street dealers.
Federal Justice Minister Annelies Verlinden
Verlinden rejects an exclusively federal explanation. She argues that local authorities must stop postponing difficult decisions or minimising problems and should concentrate on workable solutions. Her frame places municipal policy, local deployment and governance alongside federal investigation as necessary parts of the response.
Federal Interior Minister Bernard Quintin
Quintin’s structural answer is a single Brussels police zone with unified command, greater intervention capacity and revised financing. Supporters see the present fragmentation as an obstacle when criminals cross municipal boundaries; opponents answer that a merger due in 2028 cannot fill immediate shortages.
Place des Deux Bancs residents’ committee
A neighbourhood committee previously argued that an enforcement-heavy approach can displace violence and called for some resources to be redirected toward a supervised consumption room, Housing First accommodation and support for vulnerable young people. This prevention frame differs from demands centred on additional police patrols.
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This story was assembled from verified evidence, with its sources and reasoning recorded as it was written.