At around 4:30 a.m., local police were called to a young man who appeared to be fleeing an apartment in a building on Koning Albertstraat. The young man claimed to have been held there against his will but to have managed to escape.
“The suspect, reported as being armed, then took refuge in the apartment,” said the prosecution.
A support unit came to assist the local police, then members of the special units of the Brussels federal police were also called in as reinforcements.
The madman could be dislodged around 10:30 a.m., the public prosecutor said.
A blocked street
Koning Albertstraat, a shopping street in the center of Hasselt, had to be closed to traffic at Ridderstraat during the operations. The City of Hasselt has also recommended that the population avoid the area in the morning.
The security perimeter was however lifted with the arrest of the suspect. Only the building where the incident occurred, an apartment building, remained inaccessible shortly before noon due to a search carried out on the spot.
The suspect was taken to the police station for questioning.