People pay tribute to Belgium attack victims

BRUSSELS - About a thousand people gathered early Wednesday afternoon in Espace Tivoli at the center of Belgian city Liege to pay tribute to the victims of Tuesday's attack.

At 1 pm, a minute of silence was observed out of respect for those who died. Alongside Liege mayor Willy Demeyer stood the president of the Senate Christine Defraigne, Prime Minister Charles Michel, Minister of the Interior Jan Jambon, and other Liege authority officials.

On Tuesday, a man killed two police officers and a civilian in Liege. The attacker, who also injured four other police officers, was later shot dead by police.

Spokesperson for Belgium Federal Prosecutor's Office Wenke Roggen said at a press conference on Wednesday that the prosecution will likely pin the perpetrator with "terrorist murder" and "attempted terrorist murder" charges.

Roggen said that existing evidence indicates strongly that the assault was a terrorist attack: "the knife attack on the police in the initial phase and snatching a firearm from a local policeman are known rituals exercised by members of ISIS. The fact that he shouted "Allah" repeatedly when confronting the police is a further indication he was acting on behalf of Islamic extremism."

Roggen confirmed that the attacker, named Benjamin Herman, has a Belgian nationality. He had been sentenced to prison on charges of theft, drug trafficking, and other offences. He was granted permission to leave prison on Monday, and was supposed to return a day later.

The prosecutors are currently investigating whether he committed the crime alone. The inspection of whether he had taken drugs before committing the crime has also been begun.

According to local media sources, the Belgian police conducted a search of Herman's family home and raided his prison cell on Tuesday afternoon, but details of what they found have not yet been officially declared.

Roggen also confirmed that the prosecution suspected the Herman of killing another 30-year-old man in Marche-en-Famenne in southern Belgium between the evening and the early morning of Tuesday.

The investigation of the case has now been submitted to the prosecutor of the Belgian Luxembourg province.