Policeman killed, colleague wounded in knife attack in Brussels. Terror suspected.

From The Brussels Times and Sky News

Police from the Brussels-North zone were on patrol on Rue d’Aerschot in Schaerbeek, Brussels, when they were attacked by a knife-wielding individual at around 7:15 PM on Thursday evening. One officer was wounded in the neck and has since died of his injuries.

According to various media reports, the perpetrator shouted “Allahu Akbar” as he attacked the patrolling police officers,

Belgium’s federal prosecutor’s office said two officers were targeted in the incident near Brussels North station.  A judicial official told the Associated Press there was “a suspicion of a terror attack”. The attacker was shot after the stabbing and taken to hospital, police said. He is being treated in hospital.

(The) lone attacker who killed one officer and hurt another in a stabbing went to a police station hours earlier and expressed hatred for them, Belgian authorities said.

The suspect made “unhinged remarks” during a talk with officers, Brussels prosecutor Sarah Durant said. Because he voluntarily asked for psychological help, he was not arrested and instead sent to a hospital, which he left soon after.

The authorities came under immediate criticism for not arresting the suspect when he made his initial threats to the police early on Thursday.

According to Le Soir the defendant is one Yassine M, known to the Belgian authorities as one with links to religious extremism and listed as a “potentially violent extremist” in the Common Database of OCAM and the Police.

In a 2017 decision of the Council of State, cited by De Morgen and which LeSoirwas able to find, a report from the Lantin prison, mentioned in the proceedings, mentions this with regard to Y.M.: “The person concerned has been incarcerated since May 2013 for acts of attempt/robbery with violence. He was transferred to Lantin prison on 09.06.2017 following an assault on a prison officer at Ittre prison. Although he is not detained on terrorism-related charges, it appears that he influenced several vulnerable fellow prisoners with his extremist ideology. The risk of proselytism cannot therefore be excluded. In this regard, he has been reported since August 2015 as a radicalized Muslim. It should also be noted that he belongs to a highly radicalized (family) environment.”