A person was found dead by police officers in the Brussels municipality of Molenbeek-Saint-Jean on Friday morning with a gunshot wound. The incident may have been linked to drug violence.
Officers of the Brussels-West police zone found the body at around 07:00 on Friday morning, the Brussels Public Prosecutor's Office stated later in the day. The discovery was made in a square in the vicinity of Rue des Quatre-Vents and Rue Jean-Baptiste Decock to the north of the Quarter Heyvaerts, near one of the 15 so-called "drug hotspots" identified earlier this year.
"There was a gunshot wound on the body and a shell casing was also recovered," spokesperson Yasmina Vanoverschelde said. "Emergency services were immediately called to the scene, but they could only determine the person's death."
A judicial perimeter was established to preserve all traces useful to the investigation at the crime scene. The first investigative acts – conducting interrogations, camera examination, the intervention of the Federal Judicial Police laboratory and a ballistic expert – were then ordered.
The Brussels Public Prosecutor's Office, meanwhile, requisitioned an investigating magistrate for the charge of murder. "The investigation into the circumstances of the facts is ongoing," Vanoverschelde said.
Drug violence
The incident may have been linked to drug violence, according to La Capitale. However, this has not yet been confirmed by the Public Prosecutor's Office.
The Brussels-Capital Region has been plagued by drug violence in recent months. Earlier this year, shootings occurred on the region's streets almost every week, mainly gangs settling scores. This led to growing public concern and feelings of insecurity.
In the run-up to the elections, several political parties fed on these feelings, making security their major campaigning point in Brussels and promising to curb it.
