BELGIUM - Prisoner Kills Two Female Officers With Own Guns In Liege Terror Attack

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Prisoner kills two female officers with own guns in Liege terror attack
"A suspected terrorist has shot dead two female police officers after stealing their weapons in the Belgian city of Liege.

The gunman also killed a 22-year-old male car passenger on the Boulevard d'Avory, before taking a female cleaner hostage at a nearby high school.

She was released when police shot dead the attacker, who has named by local media as Belgian national Benjamin Herman."

"Officials say he approached the officers from behind and stabbed them repeatedly before taking their weapons and shooting them.

Prosecutor Philippe Dulieu said: "Armed with a knife, the suspect followed and attacked two police officers, and used their own firearms to kill them."

"He continued on foot, attacking a parked vehicle where he opened fire on a 22-year-old man in the passenger seat. The young man died.

"He then continued and entered the Leonie de Waha school. He took a woman working there as hostage."

"Authorities said terrorism could not be ruled out and media reports said the man shouted "Allahu Akbar" - "God is greatest" in Arabic."

 

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Gunman kills three in Belgium attack
"Liege shooting: Two police officers and civilian dead in Belgium"

"Belgian broadcaster RTBF said the gunman was let out from prison on temporary release on Monday where he had been serving time on drug offences. It said that he may have been radicalised while in jail.

What happened?
The shooting unfolded late morning on Tuesday near a cafe in the city centre.

Prosecutors said the man followed and attacked the officers with a knife, before taking a gun from them and opening fire."

He also shot dead a 22-year-old man who was sitting in the passenger seat of a parked car as he walked in the direction of a nearby school, where he briefly took a member of staff hostage, prosecutors said.

 

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RTL Nieuws
Schutter Luik kreeg al 25 keer gevangenisverlof

The man who shot dead three people in Liège today had already been given permission 25 times to go on leave for two days or less. That had always gone well, according to Minister of Justice Koen Geens. According to the Minister of the Interior, Jan Jambon, proper thought is given to the issue of leave.

Benjamin H. from Rochefort was allowed to leave the prison temporarily again yesterday in order to prepare for his final release in 2020. The 36-year-old man had been in prison more or less continuously since 2003, often for minor offences such as theft and drug offences.

Geens said they were not sure whether the shooter had become radicalised, as suggested in the Belgian media. The OM investigates whether this was terrorism, but according to the Minister this is mainly related to the method of attack. According to the Chief of Police of Liège, the man was clearly targeting the police. Eyewitnesses say he called 'Allahu Akbar', but that hasn't been confirmed yet.

H. was shot dead by the police after he killed three people in Liège, including two female police officers. In addition, four policemen were injured. One of them was shot in an artery in the thigh, reports Het Laatste Nieuws.

One of the police officers shot to death had twins aged 13 years. The children previously lost their father.


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Telegraaf
https://www.telegraaf.nl/nieuws/2096572/pleegde-benjamin-h-uren-voor-luik-al-moord

Did Benjamin H commit another murder hours before "Liège'"?

On Monday night Michael W. was murdered with a bullet through his head in On, a suburb of Marche-en-Famenne. The police take into account that Benjamin H. may be the perpetrator. Sources report that the murder of Michael W. would be a liquidation in the drugs scene.

Earlier that night Benjamin H., together with two other men, reportedly carried out an armed robbery on a jeweller in Rochefort. He himself comes from the Rochefort area. It is possible that Michael W., who was later murdered, was one of the companions during the raid, where three shots were fired but no injuries occurred.

The public prosecutor of Belgium confirms the murder of Michael W. but is unable to confirm the reports about a link with 'Liège'. In that city H. killed three people and later held a cleaning lady hostage.

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The Associated Press on Twitter

The Associated Press‏ @AP


BREAKING: Belgian federal magistrate says the Liege killings are considered 'terrorist murder.'

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AP News

Belgian shooter killed 4th person before attack: minister


Belgian Interior Minister Jan Jambon said Wednesday that a man who shot dead two police officers and a bystander in the eastern city of Liege had already killed another person the day before the attack.

The shooter, a Belgian national called Benjamin Herman, also took a woman hostage during his rampage on Tuesday, and Jambon said she may have talked him down and helped to avoid more deaths inside the school.

“He also committed a murder the night before,” Jambon told broadcaster RTL. Jambon confirmed that the fourth victim was a former inmate who did prison time with Herman. Herman is alleged to have killed the man on Monday evening by hitting him over the head with a blunt object.

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"I'M GOING TO ASK YOU TWO QUESTIONS..... "

HLN.be
Privacy settings

Yesterday Darifa suddenly stood face to face with the shooter of Liège. She was taken hostage by Benjamin Herman in the Lyceum after he had already killed three people in cold blood. She is telling her story for the first time.

Still in shock, the cleaning woman shone her light in front of the RTBF on the events that took place in Liège and the lyceum Waha in particular.

"I was chatting with the supervisor when I saw the owner of the neighboring building running into the school and three girls starting to scream while they ran away. My colleague Naima shouted at the door, I said to myself, "What should I do? and I have started to close some doors in the entrance hall - which give access to the school. When I turned around, I suddenly stood face to face with the shooter holding two weapons in his hand."

The hostage-taker asks her two questions: "Are you a Muslim? and "Do you follow the Ramadan? Surprised, Darifa answers twice in the affirmative. It is then that the shooter reassures the woman. "You shouldn't worry," he sustains. "I will not do anything at all to you. If I ask you to do something, listen to me and do so, but do not worry, I will not do anything to you."

Somewhat relieved, she tries to change the mind of the hostage-taker. "I told him he wasn't in the right place, you're in a school here, there are many children here. At one point, I would sign with my hands to indicate to the teachers that they should leave the playground, but I don't think they understood.

Benjamin Herman then moves to the window overlooking the playground. Darifa screams, "He told me to stop, to think about my Palestinian and Syrian brothers, that it was for them that I should cry, so I told him that I was weeping because I was in shock. He told me not to be shocked and not to worry because he wouldn't do me anything."

Surprisingly, the perpetrator is neither nervous nor violent. He makes sure that the police can clearly see the cleaning woman. "I'm here to keep the police on a lead," he says.

Apparently, the hostage-taker is not thinking about escaping. Although the cleaning woman had told him that there was another way out in the school. "I'm going to make them sweat," he says pointing at the police officers.

The woman calls on him to surrender and asks him why he is doing so. "He said, "What I do must be done. I talked to him to stop, and to let things calm down, but there was no way to reach him", said a very emotional Darifa.

Then he choose to become a 'martyr'. "At one point, he ordered me to open the door and urge the police to leave. Then we opened the door for a second time and he threw away his identity card so that it could be seen that it was him, and when I saw that he opened the door completely the third time, I withdrew and left, and that was it. I think he was aware that it was over for him.

And then he stepped outside."

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Pieter Van Ostaeyen on Twitter


Pieter Van Ostaeyen‏ @p_vanostaeyen

The Islamic State just claimed yesterday’s attack in Liège #Belgium

No specific details in the claim, however they are all over the media. Just says a soldier of The Islamic State killed three in response to the call to attack the international coalition

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PRISON WARDEN RAISED THE ALARM ABOUT THE LIÈGE SHOOTER

De Limburger
Cipier sloeg alarm over schutter Luik

On Saturday, a prison officer from the prison where the Liège shooter was detained wrote a report to the board expressing his concern about Benjamin Herman's radicalisation, according to the Belgian media. Nevertheless, Herman was allowed to go on leave for 36 hours on Monday.

Herman then shot three people, including two female agents. He is the main suspect of a fourth murder.

According to the Sudpresse newspapers, the prison officer wrote that Herman's behaviour had changed since he was in contact with a dangerous fellow prisoner, the radicalised Yassine D.
In Belgium many questions are being raised about the leave arrangements and (the lack of) combating radicalisation in prison.
Herman's name appeared indirectly in intelligence reports on radicalisation, but according to the government there were insufficient reasons to refuse him leave or to keep a close eye on him.

The 31-year-old Belgian is said to have converted to Islam in 2012. He called 'Allahu Akbar' several times before the police shot him.

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