A man in Dilbeek who shot at a cafe with an air rifle was arrested by police at the weekend and has said his action was just a practical joke.
Police managed to track down two suspects, after one was seen shooting at a café in downtown Dilbeek from a moving car on the night of 21 December, leaving material damages.
"He shot from a passing car towards cafe Groot Genoegen in Dilbeek with an air pressure rifle," Sabine Lievens of the public prosecutor's office told Het Nieuwsblad. "As a result, there was slight damage to the glass fence of the cafe and to a car parked nearby, they showed impact marks from a small projectile."
Police were able to question witnesses who were able to help them find the vehicle on the night of the facts, inside which they found the air rifle.
Two men aged 19 and 36 were arrested and brought in for questioning, with the youngest suspect admitting to being the one who shot at the establishment.
"He dismisses the facts as an inappropriate joke," Lievens said.
The 19-year-old suspect was brought before an examining magistrate under suspicion of carrying a weapon without a legitimate reason and of making threats with gestures and emblems.
Lievens said that the youngest suspect was eventually released under conditions while the investigation found that the 36-year-old suspect "turned out not to be involved."
Gabriela Galindo
The Brussels Times
