Two men aged 21 and 26 were seriously injured in the shooting. Another man, aged 28, was first reported to have been diagnosed as brain-dead. He was pronounced dead this morning.
A man of 60 and his 32-year-old son have been arrested and a firearm seized. The motive for the shooting is not yet known. The pair will be questioned by an investigating magistrate on Sunday.
According to initial reports, the shooting may be connected to a dispute between two Turkish families, which had resulted according to one witness in a fight on Friday evening outside a cafe. Two of the victims, including the dead man, are cousins, while the other injured man is thought to have been an unrelated neighbour who intervened between the two parties.
“I am shocked by the events in the Brederodestraat,” commented Antwerp mayor Bart De Wever. “I have every confidence the judicial investigation will uncover the exact circumstances. In the meantime peace and public order for all of the people of Antwerp will be maintained.”
The area, with a heavily Turkish population, was the scene of a major disturbance in October 2017, when local people clashed with a bus-load of supporters of the Kurdish independence movement PKK, considered by the Turkish authorities as a terrorist organisation.
Alan Hope
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