The killing and the arrests

Nordine El Talbi, a 41-year-old police officer, died in the night of 12 to 13 October in Jette, Brussels, while checking a vehicle linked to a carjacking in Tubize. According to RTBF, colleagues from the Brigade Anti-Agression found him unconscious on the ground with a gunshot wound to the head. Early findings link the case to drug trafficking. At a press conference on Sunday, 18 October, prosecutors said six people had been placed under arrest warrants: five adults and one minor, all from Brussels.

Arrests in Spain and France

Three suspects were arrested in Almería, in southern Spain, where the Guardia Civil said they were preparing to flee to Morocco. On Tuesday, 20 October, Spanish police released footage showing officers breaking into a small apartment and a suspect being handcuffed on the street. Spanish authorities said the three were presented before the Central Investigating Court on the morning of 19 October. According to RTBF, a teenager aged 16 or 17 was arrested at a railway station in Paris under an international arrest warrant. Belgium has asked France to transfer him to Belgian justice, and RTBF reported that he was already known to police. Four suspects arrested in France and Spain have not yet been handed over to Belgium.

Who fired the shot

Reports published on Tuesday, 20 October, claimed the person who fired the fatal shot was a minor. The Brussels prosecutor's office responded in a statement on Wednesday, 21 October:

“At this stage of the investigation, it is not possible to establish with certainty the exact role of each of the suspects.”

Prosecutors had already confirmed at the Sunday press conference that a minor was among several suspects. Brussels prosecutor Julien Moinil has said the charges will depend on the acts each person committed. He also praised Spanish police for their help and said the suspects may have intended to flee to Morocco. RTBF reported that investigators must still determine what happened between the moment the officer approached the stolen vehicle and the moment his colleagues found him.

Court hearings and appeals

On Monday, 19 October, two suspects appeared before the Brussels chamber of council, which confirmed one month of pretrial detention for them. Their lawyers have appealed, and a new hearing before the chamber of indictments is planned in two weeks. One of the two suspects, who has claimed innocence since his arrest on the day of the events, says he was kidnapped and held by the carjacking perpetrators on the evening of 12 October. In court, one suspect, identified in the reporting only as S.E.A., said he had gone from being a witness to the murder to being a suspect. A separate file concerns the carjacking victim, who was placed under an arrest warrant on 15 October for possessing and selling drugs, and a man from Anderlecht whose home reportedly held 15,000 euros in cash.

What remains open

The prosecutor's office has asked that the investigation continue calmly and in line with the requirements of the judicial inquiry. The exact role of each suspect has not been determined, and the four suspects held abroad have not yet been transferred to Belgium.