(Image Source: lesoir.be)

BY NOE GANDILLOT

ANCHOR LAUREN ZIMA

Belgium is stunned after a deadly attack struck the small city of Liège. Euronews has the details:

Shoppers fled for their lives today as a lone gunman brought terror to a Belgian city center, killing at least 4 people and wounding 75 more. Teenage boys, aged 15 and 17 were among the dead.

Medical sources later said a two-year-old baby girl, who was in a critical condition in a local hospital, had died. 

The 33-year-old man, named Nordine Amrani, opened fire and threw grenades from a rooftop into a crowded square before killing himself. A witness told France 24,

“It started in spurts, like explosions. The bus shelter exploded, there were people on the ground. We had to escape through the tunnels.”

Officials say the man acted alone, ruling out terrorism. Amrani had been summoned by police on Tuesday morning but never showed up. The BBC writes Belgian authorities knew Amrani well.

“Amrani was jailed for 58 months in September 2008 for possessing firearms and drugs, media reports said. Officials did not confirm this, but said they were aware he had spent some time in prison.”

And France’s Le Monde writes the fact Belgian police knew important information about the killer - is triggering a debate:

“When he was arrested three years ago, Nordine Amrani had proven to be collector of a lot of very dangerous weapons. He had refused to explain how he came across them and what he intended to do with them. A controversy immediately arose: How was this delinquent able to obtain weapons after he got out of jail?”

The local prosecutor said that "at no moment in any of the judicial proceedings against him was there a sign of a disturbance".

The attack left many shaken in Belgium, a country in which such attacks are very seldom. King Albert II has traveled to the city and President of the European Council Herman von Rompuy appeared very touched in a statement. (credit: European Council)

“I am completely overwhelmed by the atrocious murders in Liege (...) Faced with the inexplicable, I am perplexed, I am horrified,”