Six suspects have been arrested in Belgium and France in recent days for the fatal shooting that took place in the Rue Wayez in the Brussels municipality of Anderlecht last year.
In the attack, a 31-year-old man was shot 17 times but reports at the time suggested it was a case of mistaken identity. The murder took place on 14 September 2023 around 01:10. A white Peugeot 3008, coming from the Place de la Résistance, chased a grey VW Golf 8 in the Rue Wayez.
The Peugeot passed the Golf and cornered it, several people got out of the Peugeot and fired several shots at the driver of the Golf, after which he died from his injuries. The perpetrators got back into the white Peugeot 3008 and fled via the Place de la Vaillance and the Rue De Formanoir. A little later, the white Peugeot 3008 was found burned out in Rue de la Semence.
"We can confirm that two suspects in Belgium and four in France have been arrested in connection with the shooting," Yasmina Vanoverschelde, spokesperson for the Public Prosecutor's Office, said in a press release.
European Arrest Warrant
"The two suspects who were arrested in our country both have Belgian nationality and have been placed under arrest warrant by the investigating judge as perpetrators or accomplices for murder, theft by breaking and entering, having false (car) keys, arson at night and forming a gang with a view to committing a murder."
The four suspects in France, all French nationals, were arrested on Tuesday 1 October by the local authorities following a request for legal assistance. "A European Arrest Warrant had been issued for them with a view to their extradition to Belgium. They were taken into custody in France on the basis of the European Arrest Warrants."
The investigation shows that three of the suspects arrested in France were present at the time of the incident. The fourth is suspected of having transported the other three from France to Belgium.
"The initial findings of the investigation also seem to indicate that there may have been a case of mistaken identity with regard to the victim," the Public Prosecutor's Office confirmed. The incidents appear to be related to the drug environment.
In the interest of the ongoing investigation, no further information can be provided at this time.
