13 December 2011 21:52 ET
Police in Belgium are trying to determine what motivated a local man to open fire on a busy marketplace in Liege, killing at least four people.
Nearly 125 people were wounded, some critically, when 33-year-old Nordine Amrani fired bullets and hurled grenades before killing himself.
Police have said he was known to them for previous drugs and firearms offences and acted alone in the attack.
Prime Minister Elio Di Rupo said it had been “an isolated case”.
The city is to hold a minute’s silence and a vigil at midday on Wednesday, the AFP news agency reports.
An 17-month-old girl became the fourth victim late on Tuesday, dying in hospital despite undergoing hours of emergency treatment.
Belgium’s Home Affairs Minister Joelle Milquet said four people remained in a critical condition.
Warnings missed?
The BBC’s Matthew Price in Liege says the central Place Saint-Lambert, where the attack took place, has been re-opened to the public, but blood stains, shattered glass and bullet marks remains.
Officials have ruled out organised political terrorism or a known mental illness as Amrani’s motives but have yet to determine why he opened fire.
They will now need to examine whether there was anything to indicate in advance that he might have posed a danger to the public, says our correspondent.
Amrani, a resident of Liege, had been jailed for 58 months in September 2008 for possessing firearms and drugs, media reports said.
Officials did not confirm this, but said they were aware he had spent some time in prison.
“At no moment in any of the judicial proceedings against him was there a sign of unbalance,” Daniele Reynders, the public prosecutor for Liege, told reporters.
Amrani is reported to have been on parole and on Tuesday, had been asked to attend a police station for an interview in connection with charges against him.
“
I began to run to get away – for a few seconds I didn’t understand, couldn’t believe, what was happening”
Nicolas Gimenne Journalist
Instead, he took an assault rifle, revolver and hand grenades into the busy town centre square, close to the courthouse.
At around midday, he threw three grenades at people waiting for buses then opened fire, sending hundreds of people fleeing in panic.
“He wanted to hurt as many people as possible,” journalist Nicolas Gilenne told AFP. “I heard four explosions and shots during about 10 seconds.”
A 15-year-old boy died instantly, while a 17-year-old boy and a 75-year-old woman died later in hospital.
One official told AFP that a Christmas market was meant to be taking place in the square that day but its opening had been postponed because of bad weather.
“Otherwise many more would have died,” said the official.
Amrani died at the scene, but officials said he had not been shot by police. Some witnesses said he had shot himself in the head.
Mr di Rupo, who has only been in office since last week, said there were “no words to describe this tragedy”.
“The whole country shares the pain of the families affected. We share the shock of the population,” he said as he visited the square.
But he said: “This is an isolated case. This is not about terrorism.”
Belgium’s King Albert and Queen Paola II also visited Place Saint-Lambert on Tuesday evening to pay their respects.
Liege’s mayor Willy Demeyer, said the attack had “sown sorrow in the heart of the city”.
—————————————————————————————
Police in Belgium have found a woman’s body in a shed belonging to a gunman who went on the rampage in the centre of Liege on Tuesday.
The body was found with a bullet wound to the head, say Belgian officials.
Nordine Amrani launched his attack with guns and hand grenades in a busy marketplace in Liege, killing three people there and himself.
Police say a 75 year-old woman earlier identified as one of the dead is still alive in hospital.
About 125 people were wounded, five of whom are in intensive care, including the woman.
The body found at the killer’s property was that of a cleaner, reported to be 45 years old, who worked for one of Amrani’s neighbours.
Also found in the shed were two weapons and a stockpile of ammunition, the public prosecutor, Daniele Reynders, told a news conference.
No message has been found from the attacker, she said.
Officials say the shed was used by Amrani to grow cannabis.
The victims
- 15-year-old boy waiting for a bus who died instantly
- 17-year-old male, reported to have just finished school exams, who died later in hospital
- 17-month-old girl, who died overnight despite hours of emergency surgery
- A cleaner, reported to be 45 years old, who was found shot in the head in Amrani’s shed
The authorities are trying to determine what motivated Amrani, a Belgian citizen, to go on his killing spree.
Police have said he was known to them for previous drugs and firearms offences and acted alone in the attack.
The city is to hold a minute’s silence and a vigil at midday on Wednesday, the AFP news agency reports.
Warnings missed?
The BBC’s Matthew Price, in Liege, says the central Place Saint-Lambert, where the attack took place, has been reopened to the public, but blood stains, shattered glass and bullet marks remain.
Officials have ruled out organised political terrorism but have yet to determine why he opened fire.
They will now need to examine whether there was anything to indicate in advance that he might have posed a danger to the public, says our correspondent.
Amrani, a resident of Liege, had spent three years in jail for possessing firearms and drugs, said the prosecutor, Daniele Reynders. He was released in October 2010.
There were no medical reports suggesting any mental health problems, she said.
Amrani was on parole and on Tuesday had been asked to attend a police station for an interview in connection with charges against him.
Instead, he took an assault rifle, revolver and hand grenades into the busy town centre square, close to the courthouse.
At about midday, he threw three grenades at people waiting for buses then opened fire, sending hundreds of people fleeing in panic.
“
I began to run to get away – for a few seconds I didn’t understand, couldn’t believe, what was happening”
Nicolas GilenneJournalist
“He wanted to hurt as many people as possible,” journalist Nicolas Gilenne told AFP. “I heard four explosions and shots during about 10 seconds.”
A 15-year-old boy died instantly, while a 17-year-old boy and a 17-month-old girl died later in hospital.
One official told AFP that a Christmas market was meant to be taking place in the square that day but its opening had been postponed because of bad weather.
“Otherwise many more would have died,” said the official.
The public prosecutor, Daniele Reynders, said Amrani had committed suicide at the scene by shooting himself in the head.
Prime Minister Elio Di Rupo, who has only been in office since last week, said there were “no words to describe this tragedy”.
“The whole country shares the pain of the families affected. We share the shock of the population,” he said as he visited the square.
But he said: “This is an isolated case. This is not about terrorism.”
Belgium’s King Albert and Queen Paola II also visited Place Saint-Lambert on Tuesday evening to pay their respects.
Liege’s mayor Willy Demeyer, said the attack had “sown sorrow in the heart of the city”.
from: http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-europe-16172662
—————————————————————————————
Nordine Amrani was born on November 15th, 1978
November 15th, 1978
11 + 15 +1+9+7+8 = 51 = his life lesson = Shooter. Killer. Homicidal. Fatal. Armed and dangerous.
—————————————————————————————–
—————————————————————————————–
—————————————————————————————–
find out your own numerology at:
http://www.learnthenumbers.com/
numerology behind the news 