A man describing himself as a member of ISIS gunned down two Swedish nationals in Brussels on Monday night with a rifle while shouting “Allahu Akbar,” according to reports and video of the incident.
The terrorist suspect reportedly ranted about a 6-year-old Muslim boy that had been killed in a stabbing in Illinois.
Alleged video of the incident showed a man wearing a bright orange jacket jumping off a motorized scooter and opening fire on random individuals walking by. The individual chased some of the people into a building and opened fire on them as well.
A second video from the alleged terror suspect showed a man speaking in Arabic claiming to be a member of ISIS.
Eric Van Der Sypt, a spokesman for the federal prosecutor’s office, said in an interview with local media that there had been “a claim via social media where someone says he is the perpetrator, that he has sympathies for IS, and what is also important, he mentions the Swedish nationality of those victims.”
He said that investigators do not believe at this point that the shooting had anything to do with the recent Islamic terrorist attacks in Israel that resulted in the deaths of more than 1,400 Israelis.
The country raised their terrorism threat level from level-2 to level-4, the highest-level, which indicates that the situation was “extremely serious.” The suspect has not been caught.
“I have just offered my sincere condolences to @swedishpm following tonight’s harrowing attack on Swedish citizens in Brussels,” said Prime Minister Alexander de Croosaid on X, referring to the Swedish prime minister. “Our thoughts are with the families and friends who lost their loved ones. As close partners the fight against terrorism is a joint one.”
The country, which is home to NATO’s headquarters, was hit hard with ISIS suicide bombing attacks in 2016 when multiple terrorists detonated bombs in Brussels’ airport and a metro station in the city. Dozens of people were killed more than 300 people were injured.