The shooting of a man that took place in the Antwerp district of Borgerhout yesterday was a case of mistaken identity, police said. The intended victim of the attackers was the man’s brother.
The man was shot in the leg and taken to hospital, but was able to return home later. He refuses to discuss the matter, Het Nieuwsblad reports.
However, when police began to investigate the case, it soon became clear that the man’s brother, a habitual criminal aged 26 known as 'Bombastik', was the intended target of the attackers.
The actual victim is a family man with a job and no criminal connections.
Earlier in the day a witness saw a man at the door of the victim’s house, where no one was at home. The neighbour asked the man who he was looking for, and the man said Manuel. Informed there was no Manuel at that address, he left.
However, he returned later, according to witnesses, and fired three shots through the door. One of those shots hit the victim in the leg. The shooter then fled in a car that turned out to be carrying stolen number plates and remains at large.
The brother is known to have been involved in drugs trafficking and thefts, and when a grenade exploded in Borgerhout two years ago, he was strongly suspected of being involved.
More recently, he is suspected of being involved in the theft of a large sum of money from a home in Deurne-Noord. One theory now is that the family there are on the hunt for 'Bombastik', with threats to his family and a photo of him being passed around as far as Marbella.
The injured brother, meanwhile, refuses comment.
