BRUSSELS — A gunman killed three people, including two police officers, in the Belgian city of Liege on Tuesday, a city official said. Police later killed the attacker, and other officers were wounded in the shooting.
The motive for the attack wasn’t immediately clear, but multiple reports from overseas suggests the shooting is being treated as a terrorist incident.
Spokesman Philippe Dulieu said the man approached two police officers from behind carrying a knife and stabbed them several times.
Dulieu said that the attacker “then took their weapons. He used the weapons on the officers, who died.”
He said the attacker then shot dead a 22-year-old man in a nearby vehicle.
“Beyond the attacker, who was shot, there are three dead, two police officials and a passer-by,” Michel Firket from Liege city hall told The Associated Press.
State broadcaster RTBF reported that the shooting took place near a cafe on Liege’s Boulevard d’Avroy. Other police officers were wounded in the exchange of fire, Firket told the AP.
RTBF said the gunman fled the scene, taking a female cleaner hostage at a nearby school before he was shot and killed.
A spokeswoman for the city mayor’s office, Laurence Comminette, told the AP that the children were all safe.
Speaking on Belgian television, Prime Minister Charles Michel said: “There was a serious incident.”
“The information so far is not clear yet,” he said. Michel was rushing to the crisis center to get more information.
Video posted on Twitter by a person claiming to be a witness showed people running in the area. About six gunshots could be heard.
Belgian police and military have been on alert since suicide bombers killed 32 people at the Brussels airport and subway system in 2016.