Deadly attack

Belgian police said Wednesday that the body of a woman was found at the home of the gunman who went on a deadly rampage in the eastern city of Liege on Tuesday.

A 45-year-old woman's body was found in a shed which the man had used to grow cannabis, Prosecutor General Cedric Visart de Bocarme said on public radio RTBF. He added that the dead woman had worked as a cleaner for one of Amrani's neighbors.

Five people died and at least 123 were injured in the subsequent attack in Liege, during which the man threw grenades and open fire on a packed square in the city center.

As Christmas shoppers thronged the busy Saint-Lambert Square, the attacker lobbed three hand grenades at a bus shelter and then opened fire. According to public prosecutor Daniele Reynders, the gunman - who still had grenades on him - shot himself in the head at the scene of the rampage.

Among the dead were two teenagers and a 75-year-old woman who died later in hospital. Belgian media reported that a 17-month-old baby died of its injuries on Tuesday evening.

It was not immediately clear what motivated the attack, but authorities said the attacker had no links to any terrorist network.

Belgium's King Albert II, Queen Paola and Prime Minister Elio Di Rupo came to Liege to pay their respects on Tuesday evening. In a statement, Di Rupo said he was "horrified to learn about the terrible events."

Criminal record

Police have identified the attacker as Nordine Amrani, a 33-year-old with a long criminal record but not for violent crime. He was convicted in 2008 for the illegal possession of firearms and running a cannabis plantation as part of a criminal gang, but was released last year.

According to police, Amrani was a weapons aficionado who was said to be able to dismantle, repair and put together all sorts of weapons. He was never linked to any terrorist act or network and public prosecutor Reynders said there had never been the slightest hint he was unhinged enough to mount the kind of deadly attack launched in Liege.

Amrani had been summoned by police on Tuesday morning but didn't appear for the meeting. Instead, he left his Liege home in the morning with his backpack loaded with a light automatic rifle, a handgun and several grenades and headed for the city's center.

Earlier media reports had said several attackers opened fire on the square, throwing stun grenades into a bus shelter near the courthouse.

Police told residents to remain in their homes or seek shelter in shops or public buildings. Buses were asked to leave the city center and all shops in the area were closed, some with many customers stranded inside.

Author: Dagmar Breitenbach, Gabriel Borrud (AP, AFP, dpa)

Editor: Martin Kuebler