Belgium Attack: 75-Year-Old Woman is Fifth Casualty
The death of a 75-year-old woman on Thursday brought the death toll of Tuesday's shooting in Liege, Belgium to six, including gunman Nordine Amrani, who committed suicide.
In the initial confusion following the attack, the woman had already been reported dead, but it was later clarified that she had been hospitalized and was in critical condition. The woman, who has not been named, died early Thursday morning.
Two teenaged males leaving exams were killed on the spot on Tuesday when Amrani launched his grenade attack and shooting spree in Liege's Place Saint Lambert on Tuesday afternoon. A 17-month old boy who was injured in the attack died in a hospital on Wednesday.
Additionally, when searching Amrani's house a day after the attack, police found a woman's body in a shed where Amrani grew marijuana plants. The 45-year-old woman had been shot in the head.
“It was a cleaning lady. This is how she met him yesterday morning,” Liege Prosecutor Daniele Reynders told The Associated Press. “She dies [sic], shot with a bullet in the head.”
Amrani killed himself on the elevated platform in the Place Saint Lambert where he threw grenades down on a bus shelter and used an assault rifle to shoot shoppers and commuters.
Criminal Record
Amrani was well known to Liege police and was a lifelong criminal, according to the city's chief prosecutor, Cedric Visart de Bocarme.
On the day of the attack, Amrani was due to appear for a police questioning about an abduction case. According to his lawyer, Jean-Francois Dister, he was anxious about the interrogation and felt singled-out by the Belgian police.
It seemed the new case was not particularly serious but Mr. Amrani thought he was being picked on, his lawyer Jean-Francois Dister told La Libre Belgique newspaper.
He explained to me that he had been questioned over an abduction. According to him, he had been framed and someone was out to get him. Mr. Amrani had a grievance against the law.
Still, authorities are unclear if that is what motivated Amrani's armed rampage. So far, police have found no connections to any terrorist organizations and believe that Amrani acted alone.
More than 120 were injured in the attack on Tuesday, about five of whom are still hospitalized, and an additional 40 are being treated for shock.
Related Article: Nordine Amrani: More Bodies, More Mystery in Liege, Belgium
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