Redjan Z. has been identified as the Albanian man shot dead near the European Parliament in Brussels on October 12.
According to foreign media reports, Redjan Z. had no criminal record in Belgium. He was shot at the entrance to an apartment building on Wiertz Street in the Ixelles neighborhood, in the heart of Brussels’ European quarter.
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The shooting took place at around 5:50 p.m., when he was hit by seven to eight pistol bullets. Despite the efforts of emergency crews, he died at the scene.
Witnesses reported that three or four people fled the scene shortly after the shooting.
According to the newspaper De Standaard, the suspects in the Albanian man’s killing are believed to be the same people who, several hours later, shot dead Belgian police officer Nordine El Talbi, 41, in the Jette area.
Investigators reached that conclusion after analyzing security camera footage that helped them reconstruct the suspects’ movements that evening.
Investigators initially suspect that Redjan Z.’s killing may be linked to a settling of scores in the drug trade and that it may have been a contract killing.
After the two killings, the suspects left Belgium. Three were arrested in Almería, Spain, and another at a train station in Paris. All four have been handed over to Belgian authorities. One of them is a minor.
Meanwhile, two other people were arrested in Brussels immediately after the killings. One was released for lack of evidence, while the other remains in custody.
Belgian prosecutors have not officially confirmed a link between the two killings. Investigations are continuing to establish the motives and the role of each suspect.
