Stolen Police Weapon Still Missing After Anderlecht Riots, Investigation Ongoing

Facing the press on Sunday, Patrick Evenepoel, head of the Bruxelles Midi police zone, indicated that the police weapon stolen from a van targeted during the riots that broke out on Saturday in Anderlecht remains untraceable. "At the moment, we have not yet found the perpetrator of the theft of the weapon. We are busy conducting the investigation. We hope to find it, but for now, that is not the case," he specified to the newspaper Le Soir.

The police officer admits that the situation "is still worrying". Insofar as "a weapon that is out there, moreover a police weapon, is not something that makes us proud; that’s for sure, but..." he said.

On Saturday, the young people of Anderlecht and elsewhere responded in large numbers to calls for a rally to protest the death of Adil, a 19-year-old who died in a police chase on Friday. This gathering quickly turned into riots. The police intervened to restore calm. In the process, an empty police van was attacked and looted, and a police weapon inside was stolen. The driver, left alone on board, fled before the vandals committed their crime.