Officers Jason P. (23) and Thomas M. (29) were waiting for a red light in Brussels Thursday night when 32-year-old Yassine Mahi approached their police car. Thomas, who was driving, opened the window and almost immediately Mahi stabbed the officer’s neck with a knife. Then he stabbed Jason in the arm. Thomas eventually died of his injuries.
“We’ve lost one of our own,” an emotional police chief Olivier Slosse said at a news conference. We already know about the victims.
After a career in the hospitality industry, 29-year-old Thomas M. had only been working for the Brussels-North police for four years but was already seen as one of the veterans of their young team. Thomas had a twin brother and sister. He played drums in his spare time and regularly went skiing in the mountains.
Thomas came from Donceel in the province of Liège. Great shock in the region after the sudden death of the young agent. “I couldn’t believe my ears,” says Arnaud Delvaux, councilor for urban development, factory church, renewable energy and mobility in Donceel. “Many people here know Thomas very well. We immediately decided to hang the national tricolor at half-mast”, says Delvaux.
Thomas’ comrades at the police academy also reacted defeated: “We had a great time together at the police academy,” reads on social media.
Jason P., 23, is a recent graduate of the police academy. He was able to sound the alarm after his colleague was shot in the neck. He was able to report that the perpetrator shouted “Allahu Akbar” before starting to stab. Eventually he was shot in the arm himself. He underwent emergency surgery, but is now out of danger.
A moved police chief tells of the victim Thomas: “We have lost one of our own.”
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