Brussels on High Alert After Revenge Terror Attack Leaves Two Dead

A group of Swedish citizens who traveled to Brussels to see their national soccer team take on Belgium are now the victims of a terrorist attack by a gunman who claimed allegiance to ISIS. Two of the Swedish fans are dead after being shot while traveling in a taxi through the Grand Plaza on their way to King Baudouin Stadium. A third victim is said to be seriously injured.

Witnesses report that the gunman, clad in “a crash helmet and fluorescent jacket” whilst wielding a “Kalashnikov-style” weapon, approached the taxi on a scooter and opened fire, all while shouting, “Allahu Akbar.” He apparently also fired on a man in a nearby building, but no other details are available at this time.

Videos of the shootings and the alleged assailant have popped up on X/Twitter:

JUST IN: Gunman in Brussels kills 2 Swedish Nationals stating he needed to “Avenge Muslims”..

Belgian police have initiated a massive manhunt in Brussels and surrounding areas, the suspect still remains at large..

IS THIS JUST THE BEGINNING? pic.twitter.com/IdmRi0ouWp

— Chuck Callesto (@ChuckCallesto) October 16, 2023

An additional video has surfaced of the alleged gunman in which he, speaking in Arabic, celebrates the slaughter of the two soccer fans and says he committed the terrorist act in the name of ISIS. Police have confirmed that the man in the video is the person they are pursuing in relation to the shootings. 

As a result of the killings, Brussels has reportedly raised its terror level:

JUST IN – Terror alert level in Brussels has been raised to four, the highest level — Nieuwsblad

— Disclose.tv (@disclosetv) October 16, 2023

Belgian newspaper Het Laatste Nieuws is apparently reporting that the gunman, who possibly uses the name “Slayem Slouma,” admitted on video that his actions were revenge for the death of six-year-old Wadea Al-Fayoume, a US-Palestinian boy who was stabbed to death this past Saturday at his home in Plainfield, Illinois. 

As RedState’s Jeff Charles reported this afternoon, 71-year-old Joseph Czuba is facing “three counts of first-degree murder, one count of attempted first-degree murder, two counts of aggravated battery, and two hate crime counts” in relation to the little boy’s stabbing death; federal charges may also be pending. Czuba owned the house in which the Al-Fayoume family lived, but the landlord apparently feared his life was in danger from the Palestinian family, with his paranoia possibly being heightened by last week’s “Day of Jihad.”

In the wake of today’s murders, Belgium Prime Minister Alexander De Croo urged his citizens to be vigilant, saying: 

My deepest condolences to the relatives of the cowardly assassination attempt in Brussels.

I monitor developments together with the Ministers of Justice and Home Affairs from the national crisis center.

This is not the first time that Brussels has experienced a deadly terrorist attack. On March 22, 2016, two coordinated attacks were carried out when suicide bombers detonated bombs at the Brussels Airport in Zaventem and on a train leaving the Maalbeek/Maelbeek metro station in central Brussels. The attacks killed 32 people and injured at least 300. Earlier this year, six men were convicted of murder for those attacks, and two others were convicted on terrorism charges.

A large-scale manhunt is currently underway in Brussels, but as of this writing, today’s shooter remains at large.