Thousands of soccer fans were kept inside Belgium's national stadium for about 2 1/2 hours Monday after a game between host Belgium and Sweden was suspended at halftime following a gunman fatally shooting two Swedes in Brussels before kickoff.
The European Championship qualifier was being played some 3 miles from the shooting in the center of the Belgian capital city, with over 35,000 fans attending the match.
Eric Van Duyse, spokesman for the federal prosecutor's office, told reporters the investigation was centering on "a possible terrorist motivation for the shooting.""During the evening, a claim of responsibility was posted on social media, having been recorded by a person claiming to be the assailant. This person claims to be inspired by Islamic State," Van Duyse said. "The Swedish nationality of the victims was put forward as the probable motive for the act.
Belgium's crisis center raised the level of threat in Brussels to the highest possible and asked citizens to avoid unnecessary travel. Belgian Prime Minister Alexander De Croo suggested the attack, which took place more than an hour before the match, was linked to "terrorism."
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