Brussels: Belgian police on Tuesday shot and wounded a 45-year-old Tunisian suspected of killing two Swedish football fans in Brussels, Belgian media said. The man died in hospital from his wounds, media said.
The suspect was shot in a cafe on Tuesday, media said. There was no immediate official confirmation of his death.
Interior Minister Annelies Verlinden said earlier the wounded man was suspected of being the gunman.
Two Swedish nationals were shot dead and a third one was wounded in central Brussels on Monday night and a man who identified himself as a member of the Islamic State claimed responsibility in a video posted online.
The suspect fled the scene after the shooting as a football match between Belgium and Sweden was about to start, triggering a massive manhunt and prompting Belgium to raise its terror alert to the highest level.
“The weapon with which the attacks were committed has been found this morning where the man was apprehended in (the Brussels borough of) Schaerbeek. That makes the likelihood that the perpetrator has been caught bigger,” Verlinden told VRT broadcaster.
“We are checking fingerprints to be 100% sure.”
Federal prosecutors said they could not yet confirm the identity of the person shot but the Belgian capital’s mayor Philippe Close told BFM TV: “It seems indeed the suspect has been neutralised.”
