What if this at Xmas Orchard? Grenade + Bullet party to whole crowd at Liege

HongKanSeng · Dec 15, 2011

Women lit candles on Wednesday in memory of victims at the site of a gun and grenade attack in Liege, Belgium.
By JAMES KANTER
Published: December 14, 2011

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LIÈGE, Belgium — Belgian police said on Wednesday that they had discovered a cleaning woman’s body at a storage facility used to keep weapons and grow marijuana by the man who killed at least three people when he lobbed hand grenades and fired indiscriminately into crowds at a central square on Tuesday.
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Man Kills 4 in Grenade and Gun Attack at Belgian Bus Shelter (December 14, 2011)

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Prosecutors believe the attacker, whom they identified as Nordine Amrani, 33, killed the woman before his rampage in the historic Place St.-Lambert, which left about 120 injured, at least five critically, and ended with him turning the gun on himself. Her death brought Mr. Amrani’s toll to five.

The authorities said there was no evidence of any link between Mr. Amrani and terrorist groups for which European cities have long been on alert. Rather, as the square slowly returned to the appearance of normalcy, with shops opening and pedestrians returning, a traumatized country focused its concerns on whether the country’s legal system had properly handled a troubled man with a history of run-ins with the law.

Born in Belgium of Moroccan descent, he grew up near Brussels, according to the portrait that emerged from Belgian news reports, and was living with a nurse. Orphaned early, he was raised in foster homes. He was fascinated with firearms, and skilled at repairing them. In 2008, he received a 58-month prison sentence after he was found to have 9,500 weapons parts and several complete weapons, as well as 2,800 marijuana plants. But he was freed before the end of the term.

On Tuesday, he was supposed to appear before the police to answer questions about a sexual abuse case. He did not go.

Danièle Reynders, the city’s prosecutor, said at a news conference on Wednesday that he had armed himself from his private arsenal and headed to the square on foot. He mounted a platform that gave him an unimpeded view of the historic square, which includes a collection of bus stops that serve some 1,800 buses a day. The annual Christmas market that normally draws thousands of visitors had been closed for high winds, but there were still crowds there when he threw four grenades and opened fire.

The explosions scattered glass from the bus shelters far and wide. Video showed people fleeing, including a large group of children. The police rapidly closed off the area and moved through surrounding streets on foot and searched by helicopter for possible accomplices.

His victims included a year-and-a-half-old toddler and two teenage boys.

Ms. Reynders said that significant numbers of weapons were found at the warehouse and that some, including a handgun, were found at Mr. Amrani’s apartment.

The name of Mr. Amrani’s girlfriend was displayed on a card from the local gas company on a window of the building where the cleaning woman’s body was found. The building had a smashed window and looked largely unused. Its door and an adjoining garage, were sealed with blue police tape.

Neighbors living a few doors away from his apartment said they were aware of Mr. Amrani’s prison record. But a number of them stressed his politeness and he had even won the trust of one of the building’s numerous older residents.

“What happened is incomprehensible, and I am totally shocked,” said Micheline Clement, 67. “He held open doors for me, and he carried my packages upstairs sometimes,” she said.

According to an interview with his lawyers, Abdelhadi Amrani and Didier De Quévy, published on the Web site of the Belgian newspaper, La Dernière Heure, he “didn’t speak a word of Arabic and wasn’t a Muslim” and “ felt Belgian.” They said he loved weapons, but only as a collector. But they also said he felt that he had not had much luck in life, and that the justice system had not treated him fairly.

Alan Cowell contributed reporting from London, Stephen Castle from Brussels, and J. David Goodman from New York.

HongKanSeng · Dec 15, 2011

http://online.wsj.com/article/SB10001424052970203893404577098490380828270.html

Body Found at Belgian Attacker's Home

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Associated Press

The body of a woman has been found in the garage of the man who threw hand grenades and fired weapons into crowds in the Belgian city of Liege, killing four people including himself and wounding 123, officials said Wednesday.

Liege Prosecutor Daniele Reynders said the body of a woman in her forties was discovered during a search of Nordine Amrani's property, and that she was killed before Tuesday's murderous spree at Liege's main square.

"It was a cleaning lady. This is how she met him yesterday morning," Ms. Reynders said. "She dies, shot with a bullet in the head."

Ms. Reynders said Mr. Amrani, 33 years old, died in Tuesday's attack in an apparent suicide, and he was found with a number of grenades still on him.

"What killed him was a shot in the middle of his forehead," she said.

Two male students, 15 and 17 years old, also died in the attack, while an 18-month-old toddler died in a hospital, Liege police said. Several people remain in intensive care.

A 75-year-old woman who had initially been counted among the dead was taken off the list, even though she stands virtually no chance of recovering from her injuries, said Catherine Delcourt, a spokeswoman for the Liege governor.

Beyond the dead and injured, Reynders said some 40 people had to be treated for psychological trauma.

It remained unclear what motivated the attack. Ms. Reynders said that after searches of Mr. Amrani's house terrorism could be excluded as the driving force.

Mr. Amrani, who had spent time in jail for offenses involving guns and drugs, had been called in for questioning by police in a sexual abuse case.

Officials said he left his Liege home with a backpack, armed with hand grenades, a revolver and an FAL assault rifle before beginning his attack.

LumparChee · Dec 15, 2011

If this happens in Singapore, that's it.
Foreigners will leave. Funds will flow out of Singapore. The private banking sector will face massive retrenchment.

The Govt will start giving excuses, like "This is a once in 50 years event ......."

emeritus CB · Dec 15, 2011

LumparChee said:
If this happens in Singapore, that's it.
Foreigners will leave. Funds will flow out of Singapore. The private banking sector will face massive retrenchment.

The Govt will start giving excuses, like "This is a once in 50 years event ......."

May be that would the BEST EVER X'mas!

kangaroo · Dec 15, 2011

The frustrated Ang Mo had finally decided that be to a terrorist is better than doing nothing about the crisis they are in. May be not the best solution however it beat sitting down and endure the sufferings just L-L like Singaporeans waiting to go up lorry like a useless piece of shit.

myo539 · Dec 16, 2011

LumparChee said:
If this happens in Singapore, that's it.
Foreigners will leave. Funds will flow out of Singapore. The private banking sector will face massive retrenchment.

The Govt will start giving excuses, like "This is a once in 50 years event ......."

... and then your wife, daughter and mother will compete with others to work as maids in Malaysia, Thailand and Hong Kong. And you will start to compete with other migrant workers in the construction and sanitation industry in Dubai, China and, may be since you can speak a little English, in Australia and New Zealand.

emeritus CB · Dec 16, 2011

myo539 said:
... and then your wife, daughter and mother will compete with others to work as maids in Malaysia, Thailand and Hong Kong. And you will start to compete with other migrant workers in the construction and sanitation industry in Dubai, China and, may be since you can speak a little English, in Australia and New Zealand.

Lame typical PAP scarecrow line which ceased to work already!

Peasants just aren't afraid of these any more today.
:p

singveld · Dec 16, 2011

thing is that getting guns in Belgium is easy , getting guns in singapore is hard. he serve a few years in prison for posessive a few guns, in singapore he will be lock away for good, so he will never have a chance to hurt his community.

in this case, soft laws of belgium is to blame.

What if this at Xmas Orchard? Grenade + Bullet party to whole crowd at Liege

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