Gunman kills 2 Swedes in Brussels, prompting terror alert

BRUSSELS — A gunman fatally shot two Swedes in Brussels late Monday, prompting authorities to halt a Sweden-Belgium soccer match and leaving over 35,000 soccer fans holed up in the nearby national stadium for hours as the capital went on its highest terror alert level with the assailant at large.

The killings happened some 3 miles from the stadium. The match was suspended halfway through.

“The population needs to be actively vigilant and avoid any unnecessary travel,” anti-terror center spokeswoman Laura Demullier said, adding that the top priority for authorities was to get the thousands of fans safely out of the King Baudouin Stadium.

The center said the terror alert for the rest of the country was raised to its second-highest level. Raising the terror level in the capital to the top 4 rating means that a “threat is extremely serious.” It previously stood at 2, which means the threat was average.

“I have just offered my sincere condolences to @SwedishPM following tonight’s harrowing attack on Swedish citizens in Brussels,” Prime Minister Alexander De Croo said. He added on X, formerly known as Twitter, “As close partners the fight against terrorism is a joint one.”

Eric Van Duyse, spokesman for the federal prosecutor’s office, told reporters the investigation was centering on “a possible terrorist motivation for the shooting.”

“During the evening, a claim of responsibility was posted on social media, having been recorded by a person claiming to be the assailant. This person claims to be inspired by Islamic State,” Van Duyse said. “The Swedish nationality of the victims was put forward as the probable motive for the act. At this time, no element indicates a possible link with the Israeli-Palestinian situation.”