Belgium shooting: Police officers and bystander killed in Liege attack named as details emerge of rampaging gunman

Police officers Soraya Belkacemi, left, and Lucille Garcia, right, were killed in the gun attack
Facebook

The two female police officers and a car passenger shot dead in a suspected terror attack in the Belgian city of Liege have been named.

Soraya Belkacemi, 53, and Lucille Garcia, 45, were killed when a prisoner on day leave from jail stole their handguns as the horror unfolded on Tuesday.

The attacker, named by local media as Belgian national Benjamin Herman, then took a female cleaner hostage at a high school.

Cyril Vangriecken, 22, was in a car when he was shot and killed by the gunman
Facebook

He was later shot dead by police and the cleaner was released.

Tributes have poured in for the three people killed in the attack, with Liege police sharing an image of the two officers killed.

Alongside the picture, posted on the force’s Facebook page, a message read: “Our entire police corps is in mourning and offers sincere condolences to the families of his two colleagues and the young man, a passenger from a car.

“Our four other injured colleagues are out of danger, one of them has been sutured and left the hospital, the other three have been operated and are still hospitalised.

“There are no words sufficient to describe the emotion that motivates all our colleagues. All of you thank you for your many support brands, they are valuable and help them keep the strength to stand up as a brave police and Belgian Police. Because beyond liège, it's an entire integrated police force.”

Forensic police investigate at the scene of the shooting in Liege
AP

Colleagues of the two officers described them as “wonderful” women, mothers and policewomen.

Mr Vangriecken's father told BFMTV that his son was focused on his studies, adding: “My son was a perfect child. When I say perfect, it was perfect.”

Two police officers and passer-by shot dead in Belgium

1/14

The terror suspect had been jailed numerous times and appeared in national security documents, according to reports.

Herman is also understood to have been on two-day release from prison for "family leave" when the attack took place.

He was due to travel back to his home town of Rochfort, just 40 miles from Liege, during his release despite prison officers branding him "extremely violent".

According to state broadcaster RTBF Herman, who was born in 1982, had a criminal record that included a number of convictions for theft, assault and drugs offences.

The federal prosecutor’s office declined to comment on the identity of the attacker.

But at a press conference about the attack Prime Minister Charles Michel said the convict had appeared on national security reports about radicalisation.

He said he was mentioned "in notes that did not primarily target him, but others or other situations."

Mr Michel added that Herman’s name did not appear on a list maintained by an anti-terror assessment group.

 Belgian Special Police at the scene of the shooting 
AP

He said there was “no reason” to give the attacker “such qualification”.

According to news agency AFP, Herman had been radicalised in prison and converted to Islam.

The suspect knifed the two officers before grabbing one of their weapons and turning it on them during his rampage.

Crowds look on in the aftermath of the attack (REUTERS)
REUTERS/VICTOR JAY

He then gunned down Mr Vangriecken at a nearby park before seeking refuge at Liege’s Waha secondary school where he briefly held a cleaner hostage.

It is believed he shouted “Alluh Akbar” – Arabic for “God is Greatest” as he launched his attack around 10.30am on Tuesday.

The gunman opened fire after being stopped by the two officers for routine documents checks close to city centre café.

His aim was to "target the police,” Liege’s police Chief Christian Beaupere said.

Prime Minister Theresa May has denounced a "cowardly" attack.

A man stabbed two officers and took their guns before shooting them and a 22-year-old man sitting in a vehicle

In a message on Twitter shortly after the outrage, Mrs May said: "My thoughts are with the victims of today's cowardly attack in Belgium and their grieving families.

"The UK stands resolute with our Belgian allies against terror."

Create a FREE account to continue reading

eros

Registration is a free and easy way to support our journalism.

Join our community where you can: comment on stories; sign up to newsletters; enter competitions and access content on our app.

Your email address

Must be at least 6 characters, include an upper and lower case character and a number

You must be at least 18 years old to create an account

* Required fields

Already have an account? SIGN IN

By clicking Create Account you confirm that your data has been entered correctly and you have read and agree to our Terms of use , Cookie policy and Privacy policy .

This site is protected by reCAPTCHA and the Google Privacy Policy and Terms of Service apply.

Thank you for registering

Please refresh the page or navigate to another page on the site to be automatically logged in

MORE ABOUT