An unidentified individual opened fire with a machine gun at the home of a 74-year-old woman in Ekeren in Antwerp on Thursday night.
Shortly after 11:00 PM, local residents heard a dozen shots ring out.
“I looked at what was going on and I saw a dark figure walking down the footpath. He was wearing a cap and [was holding] a large machine gun in his hands... He ran away on foot in the direction of the Kapelsesteenweg,” said garage owner Dirk Gijs.
The facade of the 74-year-old woman’s house, located on the Oudebaan in Ekeren, was covered with bullets and several bullet shells were found on the street, explains Gazet Van Antwerpen.
“The bullets flew everywhere. The damage inside is enormous. I am lucky to be alive,” said the 74-year-old woman, and the victim of the attack.
The shooting has all the characteristics of being linked to the drug world, but the target of the shooting can in no way be linked to serious crime, explained De Standaard.
“This must be a mistake,” the police said, soon after the incident.
The Antwerp public prosecutor and the federal judicial police have launched an investigation into the attack.
Earlier on Thursday, detectives had already been investigating a hand grenade that was thrown into a house in in the Van Heystveltstraat in Deurne.
Evie McCullough
The Brussels Times
