LIEGE, Belgium (AP) A knife-wielding man stabbed two police officers today in the Belgian city of Liege, stole their weapons and shot them and a bystander dead in an attack that prosecutors fear could be terror-related.
The attacker, who was later killed by police, was an inmate who had been granted a few hours release Monday but failed to return to prison, officials said. It wasnt immediately clear why he was imprisoned, but media reports say that hes a known drug offender.
Liege prosecutors spokesman Philippe Dulieu said the man approached two police officers from behind carrying a knife and stabbed them several times.
He then took their weapons. He used the weapons on the officers, who died, Du-lieu told reporters.
Dulieu said the attacker then shot dead a 22-year-old man in a vehicle that was just leaving a parking place outside a nearby high school. The attacker then took a woman hostage inside the school.
Liege police intervened. He came out firing at police, wounding a number of them, notably in the legs. He was shot dead, the spokesman said.
A senior official at the federal prosecutors office told The Associated Press that there are indications it could be a terror attack.
Despite this, Belgiums crisis center said it saw no reason to raise the countrys terror threat alert for now.
