\u201cA guy fired a Kalashnikov in front of children in my village,\u201d Spinette told reporters. \u201cThere are bullet holes in the ground.\u201d Customers at a pizzeria were forced to lie on the floor as shots rang out, Belga reported. The attacker fled the scene and had not been apprehended as of Tuesday morning.<\/p>\n
Saint-Gilles has been grappling with drug-related violence for years, particularly around the train station. In June 2024, two people were killed and three others injured when gunmen opened fire with Kalashnikovs at a caf\u00e9 near Brussels-Midi station, in an incident authorities linked to drug trafficking<\/a>. Authorities subsequently stepped up police presence in several hotspots in the area, but not sufficiently, according to Spinette. <\/p>\n \u201cI\u2019ve been asking for reinforcements for three years,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n Around 700 police officers work across Saint-Gilles<\/a> and the wider Midi police zone, while the municipality increased its annual contribution to the police force by \u20ac1.8 million last year<\/a>. At least 66 shootings have been documented across the wider Brussels region in 2026, Le Soir reports<\/a>.<\/p>\n