A man attacked a patrol of Brussels South (Anderlecht/Saint-Gilles/Forest) police officers on Saturday night, leaving five officers incapacitated for work.
The incident took place in the Brussels commune of Anderlecht on Saturday evening around 21:45. Two officers in a police combo arrived at the police station in the municipality when they saw that a man appeared to be standing guard at the entrance.
When one of the officers got out and asked the man if he could help him, the latter immediately served the officer a heavy kick. The assailant then allegedly tried to take control of the officer’s service weapon, but his colleague immediately called for reinforcements from his colleagues in the commissariat.
Several police officers intervened and were eventually able to overpower the man and arrest him, Het Nieuwsblad reports. He has been handed over to the Brussels public prosecutor's office, but it could not yet confirm what will happen to the man.
Attacks still commonplace
Chief of police Jürgen De Landsheer confirmed that five of the officers involved will not be able to work for some time.
He stressed the severity of the incident and lamented the fact it happened near the safe haven of a police station. "It is a case of blind aggression against a patrol. Beyond the what and why, the question arises as to how we should deal with this and how we can protect our officers from this."
The chief of police also referred to the incident in Schaerbeek on 10 November last year, where police inspector Thomas Monjoie (29) was stabbed in his combi, resulting in his death.
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Meanwhile, the police union argued that, despite harsher punishments being put in place, there are still dozens of acts of violence against police every week, often with "serious consequences."
