{
    "title": "Twenty years on, Belgium remembers Antwerp racist shootings",
    "modified_at": "2026-05-11 10:00:55",
    "published_at": "2026-05-11 09:55:00",
    "url": "https://www.belganewsagency.eu/twenty-years-on-belgium-remembers-antwerp-racist-shootings",
    "short_url": "http://prez.ly/c1Gd",
    "culture": "en_BE",
    "language": "EN",
    "slug": "twenty-years-on-belgium-remembers-antwerp-racist-shootings",
    "body": "<p><strong>Twenty years ago, on 11 May 2006, Belgium was shocked by a racist shooting attack in the centre of Antwerp. The gunman, 18-year-old Hans Van Themsche, killed a Malian childminder and a two-year-old girl, and seriously injured another woman.</strong></p><p>Van Themsche had travelled by train from western Belgium to Antwerp after being expelled from his boarding school the day before. He bought a hunting rifle in the city and began shooting shortly before midday.</p><p>His first victim was Song&uuml;l Ko&ccedil;, a Belgian woman of Turkish origin, who was reading on a bench near the city centre. She survived after being shot in the chest.</p><p>A short time later, Van Themsche shot dead Oulematou Niangadou, a 24-year-old childminder from Mali, and Luna Drowart, the two-year-old girl in her care. They were attacked in the Zwartzustersstraat area, near Antwerp&rsquo;s historic centre.</p><div\n    id='gallery-78b023aa-6816-4f2a-9359-d97afdd104f6'\n    class='release-content-gallery release-content-gallery--layout-full-width'\n    data-component='chromatic-gallery,image-zoom-popup'\n    data-chromatic-gallery-padding='S'\n    data-chromatic-gallery-thumbnail-size='XS'\n    data-chromatic-gallery-captions='data:application/json,true'\n    data-chromatic-gallery-photos='data:application/json;base64,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'\n    data-chromatic-gallery-force-full-width='data:application/json,true'\n    data-chromatic-gallery-expand-icon='data:text/plain;base64,PHN2ZyBjbGFzcz0iaWNvbiBpY29uLWV4cGFuZCI+CiAgICAgICAgICAgICAgICA8dXNlIHhsaW5rOmhyZWY9IiNpY29uLWV4cGFuZCI+PC91c2U+CiAgICAgICAgICAgIDwvc3ZnPg=='\n    data-image-zoom-popup-selector='.chromatic-gallery__photo'\n    data-image-zoom-popup-i18n='data:application/json;base64,eyJEb3dubG9hZCI6IkRvd25sb2FkIn0='\n    data-image-zoom-popup-tracking-view-event='Story Image View'\n    data-image-zoom-popup-tracking-download-event='Story Image Download'\n    data-image-zoom-popup-placement='content'\n></div><p>The attack ended when police inspector Marcel Van Peel confronted the gunman. After Van Themsche pointed his weapon at the officer and shouted &ldquo;shoot me dead&rdquo;, the inspector shot and arrested him.</p><p>The killings caused national outrage in Belgium and led to stricter gun laws to make impulsive firearm purchases more difficult.</p><p>In 2007, a Belgian assize court sentenced Van Themsche to life imprisonment for two murders and one attempted murder. The jury ruled that the crimes were racially motivated.</p><p>In 2025, he was released from prison under strict conditions and transferred to a secure psychiatric institution for treatment. </p><p>In Zwartzustersstraat, a memorial stone still commemorates the death of Luna and Oulematou &#039;N&#039;Doei&#039; Niangadou. &quot;It&#039;s a 3-minute walk from my home and I&#039;m going to hang a bouquet there every year on May 11&quot;, Luna&rsquo;s grandmother Suzanne Van Well told VRT NWS last week. &quot;I&#039;m not trying to think about the fact that my granddaughter was murdered here, but rather that she was happily riding her bicycle.&rdquo;</p><p>&nbsp;</p><p><sup>#FlandersNewsService | Hans Van Themsche during his trial in 2007 &copy; BELGA PHOTO NINA FRANCESCA</sup></p><p>&nbsp;</p>",
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