Agency Report –
There was another shooting in Anderlecht during the night from Thursday to Friday. Mayor Fabrice Cumps said this on RTBF and the local police confirmed the news. One person was killed.
“Last night there was another shooting, this time in the Peterbos district, at around 4am,” said police spokeswoman Sarah Frederickx. “This resulted in one fatality, a man who has not yet been identified.” It is the third shooting in Anderlecht and the fourth in Brussels this week.
Gang war
The Anderlecht mayor calls it “a war between mafia gangs trying to control the territory”. The Peterbos district, where the shooting took place, is a hotspot of drug activity. “You don’t have to be a genius to figure out that these shootings are connected,” said Cumps, referring to the Clemenceau shooting from Thursday morning.
“You don’t have to be a genius to figure out that these shootings are linked”
According to Brussels prosecutor Julien Moinil, the various shootings frame a territorial dispute between different drug gangs. Several media report a conflict between the gang operating in and around the Peterbos park and the gang operating in the Aumale neighbourhood in Anderlecht over the theft of 200 kilograms of drugs.
In order to combat the drug violence, Cumps is taking over command of the six Brussels police zones. This means that police officers from other areas of Brussels will be able to patrol in Anderlecht. Although this is a temporary measure, the De Wever government plans to merge the police zones permanently.
