Racism appears to be the motive of a street shooting in Antwerp, Belgium, in which a man shot and killed a black woman and a child on Thursday, said the police.

A second woman, of Turkish origin, was critically injured in the shooting. A police officer, who happened to be in the area, shot and injured the fleeing culprit, Belga news agency reported.

The woman who was killed was working as an au pair. She was taking care of a Caucasian child, who was also killed in the shooting. Both died at the scene.

The Antwerp public prosecution office later said the shooting appeared to be racially-motivated. The arrested suspect was described by authorities as an 18-year-old skinhead with extreme- right sympathies.

The man had no links with the victims and had no criminal record.

A witness said the man simply opened fire on the woman and the child for absolutely no reason.

Before the fatal shooting, the culprit had already shot another woman, who was reading on a street bench. She suffered a collapsed lung and is in a critical condition, said the police.

Source: Xinhua