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Police seek Brussels suspect

May 25, 2014

Police are asking for the public's help in identifying the suspect in the shooting at the Jewish Museum of Belgium. Two women and a man were killed in Saturday's attack, all struck by bullets in the face or throat.

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Jewish Museum of Belgium
Image: picture-alliance/dpa

Belgium's federal police planned to post photos of the suspected shooter as well as a video of the crime scene by Sunday afternoon. The attack killed an Israeli couple and a French woman and left one Belgian man injured.

At a news conference on Sunday, deputy prosecutor Ine Van Wymersch said the suspect "probably acted alone, was armed and well-prepared." She added that the fourth victim in the attack "is still alive but in a very critical condition."

Witnesses and Interior Minister Joelle Milquet say the gunman entered the Jewish Museum of Belgium in the upmarket Sablon district of Brussels Saturday afternoon, fired shots and fled by car. Police detained one man who had admitted to being present, but they now consider him a witness rather than a suspect.

'Still open'

The attack, which came on the eve of national and European Parliament elections, led officials to immediately raise anti-terror measures and increase protection at Jewish sites. Members of the government have said the shooting had the hallmarks of an anti-Semitic attack, but prosecutors have yet to definitively determine a motive.

"Nobody has claimed this attack," Van Wymersch said. "All options are still open."

On Saturday, Belgian Prime Minister Elio Di Rupo voiced both his shock at the attack and support for the Jewish community.

"Our country and all Belgians, irrespective of their language, their origin or their faith, are united and together in the face of this attack in a Jewish cultural venue," the government announced in a statement.

mkg/hc (Reuters, AFP, dpa, AP)