Two police officers and a passerby shot dead by gunman in Belgium

Two police officers and a passerby were killed on Tuesday night when a gunman opened fire in the eastern Belgian city of Liege.

According to a spokesperson from the Liege prosecutor's office, the assailant has since been "neutralized". It is not yet clear what the attacker's motive may have been, the spokesperson added.

Belgian Interior Minister Jan Jambon said on Twitter that the country's crisis center was monitoring the situation. The incident took place in the vicinity of a local high school. The crisis center said that the students were safe and that none had been injured. Authorities in Liege are expected to provide an update on the incident later Tuesday.

Liege is Belgium's third-largest city, after Brussels and Antwerp, according to the national tourist office. For centuries, it has been an important cultural and industrial center for the country. In 2011, Liege was the scene of a grenade and gun attack that left at least 5 dead and injured more than 100.