4 die, 123 hurt in siege by Belgian gunman

LIÈGE, Belgium -- A man armed with grenades and an assault rifle attacked holiday shoppers yesterday in a central square here. Four people died, including the attacker, and 123 others were wounded or injured, officials said.

It was not immediately clear what motivated the attack in the Place Saint-Lambert, the central entry point to downtown shopping streets in the city in eastern Belgium. The attack prompted hundreds of shoppers to stampede down old city streets, fleeing explosions and bullets.

Interior Ministry official Peter Mertens said the attack did not involve terrorism but didn't say why he thought that.

The attacker was identified as Norodine Amrani, 33, a Liège resident who they said had done jail time for offenses involving guns, drugs and sexual abuse. Liège Prosecutor Danielle Reynders said it was unclear whether he committed suicide or died by accident. He did not die at the hands of police, she said.

The other dead were two boys, 15 and 17, and a woman, 75, she said. The newspaper La Libre said a 2-year-old girl was clinging to life.

Reynders said Amrani had been summoned for police questioning earlier in the day but the reason was not clear. He still had a number of grenades with him when he died, she said.

Officials said Amrani left his home in Liège with a backpack, hand grenades, a revolver and an FAL assault rifle. He walked alone to the central square, then got onto a platform that gave him a view of the square below, a scene with a huge Christmas tree and crowded with shoppers.

From there, Amrani lobbed three grenades toward a nearby bus shelter, which serves 1,800 buses a day, then opened fire on the crowd. The explosions sent shards of glass from the bus shelter across a wide area.

"I heard a loud boom," said witness Dimitri Degryse. "I thought it was something on my car that was broken or something. Then a few seconds after a second boom, and I saw all the glass breaking, I saw people running, screaming."