The number of shootings in the Brussels-Capital Region has broken the sad record set in 2024 – the police have counted 96 shootings so far, compared to 92 incidents last year.
The federal police have counted 96 shootings in Brussels so far this year. With two weeks to go, that is four more than a year ago. Compared to 2022, the number has almost doubled. Eight people have been killed in these incidents this year.
The police define a shooting as "an incident on a public road or in a freely accessible place in which multiple shots are fired and/or someone is injured or killed by the use of a firearm."
It is clear that most shootings are related to drug-related violence, although the police have not released exact percentages for this year.
Two shootings per week
The number of fatalities is in line with last year: eight in 2025, compared to nine last year. Therefore, the figures seem to point to a "new normal" of two shootings per week in Brussels, usually without fatalities.
In the turf wars between rival gangs, people are often shot in the leg as a warning. In the most recent incident, near the Bethlehem Square in Saint-Gilles, a building facade was shot at.
In terms of locations, the map of shootings is very similar to last year's. The well-known drug shooting spots – concentrated in the wider area around the Brussels Midi station – remain critical points, although there have been shifts due to policy intervention in hotspots.
What makes police work difficult is that drug trafficking operates in a tiered system, with undocumented migrants or minors often being sent out to shoot rival dealers.
As a result, medium and large dealers remain out of harm's way, both literally and figuratively.
Bullet hole after a shooting in Brussels. Credit: Belga
On Tuesday, the Brussels Public Prosecutor's Office and the police announced that they want to focus more on the demand side of drug trafficking. From now on, the police can also confiscate cars and mobile phones from drug users.
"It is the consumers in cars who make the sales points profitable," Jean Spinette (PS), the mayor of Saint-Gilles, recently explained about this new strategy.
"The residents are tired of it. Just as you do not buy conflict diamonds or clothing made through child exploitation, you do not buy drugs in neighbourhoods that are becoming unsafe as a result of the drug trade," he said.
