Brussels (Brussels Morning Newspaper): On December 13, 2024, a police officer shot a 19-year-old man in Wezembeek-Oppem, Belgium, after he threatened officers with an iron bar during a family dispute. The man was critically injured and hospitalized following the incident, which is under investigation by local authorities.
On the night of Friday, December 13th, 2024, a police officer shot a 19-year-old man in Wezembeek-Oppem, Belgium. The incident occurred just after midnight when police were called to a home on Hardstraat due to a family dispute. The young man was reportedly acting aggressively toward his parents, which led them to contact the authorities. When the police arrived, the situation escalated quickly. According to a spokesperson for the local prosecutor’s office, the man was armed with a sharp iron bar and threatened the officers aggressively.
Was the police shooting of a 19-year-old in Wezembeek-Oppem justified?
During the confrontation, the young man reportedly tried to stab an officer in the neck with an iron bar. To protect themselves, one of the officers fired a shot. Local news said the situation was very tense, and the police had to act in self-defense.Â
Officers escaped, but the young man chased them and attacked again. One officer shot him in the stomach, and he was taken to the hospital in critical condition. The officers were also taken to the hospital. The local prosecutor is investigating what happened. The young man had problems with the police before, and a neighbor said one of his brothers was injured in another incident and now uses a prosthesis. After the shooting, the Halle-Vilvoorde public prosecutor’s office started an investigation to see if the officer’s actions were justified.
