Belgians mourn as another body found

LIEGE, Belgium - A card at a memorial to the victims asked the question haunting all of Belgium: "Why?"

Why did Nordine Amrani, a 33-year-old with a history of lawbreaking, sweep into this city's holiday shopping center to unleash a grenade-and-gun rampage that killed three people and wounded 123? Why did he then kill himself?

Deepening the mystery, police said Wednesday that another body had been found, that of a 45-year-old woman, in a shed where Amrani grew marijuana close to his home.

Prosecutor Daniele Reynders said, after searches of Amrani's house, that terrorism could be excluded. "It was a cleaning lady. This is how she met him yesterday morning," Reynders said. "She dies, shot with a bullet in the head."

The Ferris wheel at Liege's Christmas market started turning again Wednesday, hoping to restore some festive cheer, but the mood remained dark in this rust-belt city. "The crowds won't show up," said Françoise Robert, a vendor selling miniature castles and Christmas items. "People are scared."

At the outdoor bus depot that Amrani, a Belgian of Moroccan descent, attacked, a parade of people bundled against the wind and rain paid tribute to the victims. Young women cried and families lit candles as shards of upswept glass still littered the pavement.

"Warum [why]?" asked one card, surrounded by toys, flowers, and candles. The victims included a 11/2-year-old toddler and two teenage boys, both students. Five others are reported in critical condition.

In Brussels, the government pledged to toughen the gun law and put stricter controls on multiple offenders on conditional release.

Officials said Amrani was a man orphaned early and alienated from society, though he lived with a girlfriend. He had done jail time for offenses involving guns and drugs, and had been called in for questioning Tuesday by police in a sexual-abuse case. His lawyer said his client had been particularly scared that he would be jailed again. It is unclear if that was the tipping point.