Yassine Mahi was born in 1990 and lived in Brussels, Belgium. He was a Belgian citizen of Moroccan descent. Little is publicly available about his childhood or early personal history, but in adulthood he came to the attention of Belgian security services. He appeared on a list of radicalized Muslims due to his extremist leanings and was considered a potential security risk prior to the 2022 stabbing.

Mahi also struggled with mental health issues. On the very morning of the attack, he visited a local police station and made threats against officers. Instead of being arrested, police brought him voluntarily to the psychiatric unit of Saint-Luc hospital in Brussels. Because he agreed to enter psychiatric care voluntarily, legal criteria for enforced detention under psychiatric surveillance were not met, and he was able to leave freely.

On the evening of November 10, 2022, at approximately 6:15 p.m. (GMT), two police officers were patrolling near Brussels-North railway station when they were attacked by Yassine Mahi, who wielded a knife. Witnesses reported that he shouted “Allahu Akbar” while stabbing the officers.

One officer was fatally stabbed in the neck, while the other sustained injuries but survived. A second police patrol quickly arrived at the scene and shot Mahi in the legs and abdomen, neutralizing him before he could harm others. Both the injured officer and Mahi were taken to the hospital.

Belgian authorities opened an investigation into the incident, treating it as a potential terrorist attack due to Mahi’s background, the religious slogan he shouted, and his presence on security watchlists. It also raised significant controversy over how he had been handled earlier that same day—making threats at a police station but being allowed to leave a psychiatric unit just hours before the assault.

The fatal victim was later identified as a serving Belgian police officer, mourned nationally as yet another casualty of targeted violence against law enforcement in Europe. Vigils and tributes were held in Brussels in the days following the attack.

As of the latest updates, Mahi survived his wounds and remains in custody under medical and legal supervision, awaiting trial on charges of murder, attempted murder, and terrorism-related offences.