Vigil held for child killed by police car in park

A silent vigil was attended by about 400 people on Sunday in Elisabeth Park in Brussels, where 11-year-old Fabian was killed after being hit by a police car during a chase through the park earlier last week.

The vigil began with a silent march originating from the police station where the officers who hit the child were stationed and ended in the park where participants expressed sorrow and anger over the tragedy.

“I think what the police did was inhumane,” one participant told RTL. “There are no words – it's an 11-year-old boy who's gone.”

After the vigil ended, a smaller group remained and protested against police violence, reportedly throwing projectiles at riot police there to oversee the event.

Slogans such as ‘Police Assassin’ were chanted and some demonstrators also set off firecrackers.

Police responded by deploying water cannons and the protest eventually dispersed. According to some of those present, police also fired rubber bullets at one point.

One person was reportedly arrested.

The case is currently under investigation by the Committee P, an independent body made up of former police officers with special status who are affiliated with the federal parliament.

Details of the chase are still unclear, though it was confirmed by both authorities and the child’s family that the boy was riding a scooter illegally adapted to be able to reach speeds of 60 km/h.

Local residents said that while drug dealing and, relatedly, police vehicles in Elisabeth Park are nothing new, they have long voiced concerns about the dangers of driving cars in a place so frequented by children and pedestrians.

The practice becomes especially dangerous when police are responding to calls that do not oblige them to use lights and sirens.

“Banning police vehicles from parks is a very concrete measure that the five mayors of the West police zone can take immediately in response to Fabian's tragic death,” Arne Smeets, municipal councillor for the opposition party Ecolo-Groen in Ganshoren, told Bruzz.

“It's not just about Elisabeth Park. Our party has been complaining for some time that police cars are patrolling King Baudouin Park, including the busy guinguette in Jette, where dozens of children play on hot days. Such patrols should be carried out by bicycle brigades.”

Police say they are put in a tough spot when organised crime is increasingly using minors, making it more difficult for the authorities to intervene. Another complication is the rise of souped-up scooters like the one Fabian was riding, which can reach speeds that make it impossible for police to keep up with without a vehicle.

Jean-Marie Hottat, former commissioner of the Brussels West police zone and current SYPOL union president, weighed in on the matter, claiming the 11-year-old might have endangered himself and others and that “an investigation is needed to find out how fast Fabian was riding his scooter”.

Hottat also expressed concern for the officer behind the wheel of the car.

“He is currently at home on medical advice,” he told Bruzz.

“I don't know the details, but one thing is certain: he’s not feeling well at all. I don't think he will ever be able to come to terms with this.

"There is a stress team looking after him, but even so, the psychiatrists and psychologists are not there all the time. Both he and the female colleague who was in the car with him on Monday are finding it very difficult."

The officer who was driving the car was 25 years old and originally from Wallonia, having only been working in the Brussels area for a few years.

“A chase involving a child that ends badly is something that rarely happens, and certainly not in the circumstances we saw on Monday. W're not talking about serious crime here, it was just a check on a child on a scooter,” Hottat said.

“I've heard that the subject is being avoided in the West zone: it's too much for our colleagues, too difficult to talk about.”