Belgian grenade attack creates Christmas market massacre

[Gubbi]

LIEGE, BELGIUM A man with a history of run-ins with the law lobbed three hand grenades and opened fire at a crowded central bus stop in Liege Tuesday, killing several people, wounding scores and creating a panic before killing himself, officials said. No motive was immediately established, though the Interior Ministry said it was not related to terrorism, for which European cities have long been on alert.

 

Three victims died on the spot and at least one died later at a hospital, Belgian news reports said. The attacker was identified as Norodine Amrani, 33, of Liege, who had received a 58-month prison sentence for drug and gun offences in 2008. He had been summoned to appear before the police Tuesday, suggesting that his attack was some sort of desperate final lashing out. The reason for the questioning was not clear.

 

The attack took place just after noon at a crowded bus stop in Place St.-Lambert, a hub of the Old City that hosts an annual Christmas market and is the site of a main courthouse building. Liege is in eastern Belgium and is the country’s third largest city, after Brussels and Antwerp. The police discovered Amrani’s van nearby and destroyed it, Daniele Reynders, the city prosecutor, said in a televised news conference. Reynders identified three of the people killed as “a 15-year-old — a young boy who died on the spot — a 17-year-old and a 75-year-old woman who died outside the court.” The Belgian news media reported that a 20-year-old man later died in a hospital and that a 2-year-old girl was in critical condition, with some saying she had died.

 

Witnesses told the Belgian news media that the assailant had hurled explosives from a platform above a bakery. A police official told The Associated Press on Tuesday evening that at least 123 people were wounded.

By midafternoon, Peter Mertens, an Interior Ministry official, confirmed that there had been only one attacker and that he had died at the scene. The office of Prime Minister Elio Di Rupo said he would meet with emergency and law enforcement officials. A witness in the square told RTL Television that he had seen a man throw grenades before firing haphazardly at the crowd with an assault rifle. When that weapon appeared out of bullets, “he took a revolver and he shot himself in the head,” the witness, who was not identified, told the broadcaster.

New York Times - TheSpec

[icky?/]

A black day in my country's history. It's a typical example of the failing court system here, he was convicted to five years of prison in 2008 for rape, violence and having illegal weapens but was already set free before the end of his punishment for 'good behavior.'

[Wifestein]

didnt some1 say belgium is better than holland in every aspect? This proves its not ;p .. Anyways, this sucks though.

[ajnl]

didnt some1 say belgium is better than holland in every aspect? This proves its not ;p .. Anyways, this sucks though.

 

Problem is this could happen here too. The "justice" system in both Belgium and the Netherlands sucks. And this goes back to prove my point, that no matter what laws you put in place, bad people will still get guns and even grenades obviously.

[Jefke]

didnt some1 say belgium is better than holland in every aspect? This proves its not ;p .. Anyways, this sucks though.

 

*may not say something about the a**h**** shooter his origin*

 

anyway the fact that Belgium is better in every aspect then holland has nothing to do with this nuthead...

 

btw... the dutch news on nederland3 dared to show video footage (made by somebody with a phone => was shocked that people filmed this instead of helping people...) of people bleeding at the busstation: bit disrespectful for the people wounded/dead... (Belgium news didn't show this footage as far I know about)

[Gubbi]

All those attacks are a disgrace of the human being. People causing harm to helpless, innocent people, especially children, for no good reason is something people, who have their brain still working, cannot understand. Those are sick people and it could have happened anywhere. The only blame you can give is that people come in the posses of such weapons too easy.

[Ghostwind]

A black day in my country's history. It's a typical example of the failing court system here, he was convicted to five years of prison in 2008 for rape, violence and having illegal weapens but was already set free before the end of his punishment for 'good behavior.'

Problem is this could happen here too. The "justice" system in both Belgium and the Netherlands sucks. And this goes back to prove my point, that no matter what laws you put in place, bad people will still get guns and even grenades obviously.

 

The problem isnt the justice system, as there is no justice system in the world that can function perfectly in all cases... there are simply too many individual variables that come in to play in individual cases to account for everything that could happen in every case. Blaming the justice system in this individual case may be appropriate, but suggesting that the system as a whole is a failure is totally inappropriate.

 

Regardless, this is a tragedy for everyone, and I wish all of the injured a speedy recovery. Let us hope it never happens again.

[ajnl]

It will happen again, that's the problem....

[Nielsvd]

The second I heard this it reminded me of Anders Breivik, in Norway. While we don't know what this man's motives were, to cause all this pain and suffering in Belgium, this makes me fear that there might be more and more lunatics on their way to getting messed up enough to kill more and more innocent people. It might be to early to make such presumptions, but I fear that this might not be the last event in a long chain off public massacres.

[Helmut the soldier]

Really shocking... i mean what do people like this think when

they kill other people? What's the big advantage to do this?

[Ghostwind]

Really shocking... i mean what do people like this think when

they kill other people? What's the big advantage to do this?

 

The thing is that people like this live in a reality that is far from what we experience as reality. What they consider right and wrong when they are planning this kind of attack is not the same as what we consider right and wrong. When they carry out these atrocious acts, they don't see themselves as doing anything wrong :/

[Panini*Hobbit@mp3]

The second I heard this it reminded me of Anders Breivik, in Norway. While we don't know what this man's motives were, to cause all this pain and suffering in Belgium, this makes me fear that there might be more and more lunatics on their way to getting messed up enough to kill more and more innocent people. It might be to early to make such presumptions, but I fear that this might not be the last event in a long chain off public massacres.

When I saw it on the news I thought the same about the guy in Norway. It's sad that there are people in society who can kill innocent people and not feel any remorse in doing it! Also somehow when someone is convicted of not one but THREE offenses they're thrown in jail, they're out earlier for "good behaviour" - alright not every person left out early is going to do something idiotic like this but there are a few who do. It's disgusting the fact that he was convicted for rape, violence and carrying illegal weapons and left out early, even if he was just in there for rape then he shouldn't be left out imo because who knows if he will do it again, or something worse?

 

I bet he'll plead for insanity like the guy in Norway and he'll be in a mental hospital instead of a jail cell where he deserves to be.

[Reallity]

Heard this on the news.. where the f*** do people get their hands on grenates :S

[ajnl]

Heard this on the news.. where the f*** do people get their hands on grenates :S

 

thats my question too. Plus why aren't they calling him a terrorist, since clearly he is.

[Ghostwind]

Heard this on the news.. where the f*** do people get their hands on grenates :S

thats my question too. Plus why aren't they calling him a terrorist, since clearly he is.

 

Black Market