A gunman entered the Brussels Jewish Museum yesterday, killing three people and critically wounding a fourth, who died from his injuries hours later.
The AP reports, “Interior Minister Joelle Milquet told reporters that the shooter apparently parked a car outside before entering the Jewish Museum. She added the gunman ‘apparently fired rather quickly, went outside and left.’ ” Police are currently looking for the suspect.
Two of the victims were Mira and Emmanuel Riva, an Israeli couple visiting Brussels. The Times of Israel reports that they were on a private walking tour of the city when the shooting occurred. They have two teenage daughters in Tel Aviv.
The third immediate victim was a female volunteer at the museum, and the fourth was a 23-year-old museum employee named Alexandre Strens.
Security at Jewish institutions across Belgium has been raised to high levels, Reuters reports. Belgium’s Jewish population is approximately 42,000 people, half of whom live in Brussels.
Pope Francis, currently visiting Israel, condemned the attack in a speech in Tel Aviv.
Stephanie Butnick is the founder of GOLDA, a Jewish lifestyle newsletter. She hosted the Tablet podcast Unorthodox, co-authored The Newish Jewish Encyclopedia: From Abraham to Zabar’s and Everything in Between, and worked as a writer and editor at Tablet.
