A man was killed, and two other people were injured, this Saturday, December 2 evening, in the west of Paris, a stone’s throw from the Eiffel Tower. The suspect, a French man born in 1997 in Neuilly-sur-Seine, was arrested by the police. It was “known for radical Islamism and psychiatric disorders”, according to a police source at AFP.
The events began shortly after 9 p.m., in the 16th arrondissement of the capital, according to the account given by Gérald Darmanin, who went to the scene late in the evening. The suspect “allegedly stabbed a man several times in the street, who died of his wounds”announced the Paris prosecutor’s office Release. The victim is a German national, who was accompanied by his wife, said the Minister of the Interior.
Convicted in 2016
According to Gérald Darmanin, “the intervention of a taxi driver” puts an end to this first part of the attack, and a call to 17, around 9:15 p.m., triggers the arrival of police officers from the 16th arrondissement. They pursue the suspect across the Grenelle bridge, to the 15th arrondissement, which is on the other side of the Seine. The suspect then had time to attack two other people with a hammer, “whose life would not be in danger”specifies the minister: “One person would be of foreign nationality, the other would be a French man of around sixty years old.” Finally, a police officer uses his electric pulse gun (Taser type) twice, which allows the suspect to be arrested. The Paris prosecutor’s office first entrusted an investigation to the criminal brigade for assassination and assassination attempts. But after midnight, the national anti-terrorism prosecutor’s office (Pnat) took over the investigation, according to AFP.
The suspect allegedly shouted “God is great” on several occasions, according to the minister, and declared to the police that he could not support Muslims being killed around the world. He was sentenced in 2016 to four years in prison for “wanted to take violent action”, continued Gérald Darmanin. Then was “released from prison in 2020 and administratively monitored by the DGSI”, indicated the tenant of Place Beauvau, who added that the assailant suffered from “psychological disorders” and was “under treatment”.
Updated on December 3 at 12:15 a.m. with details from Gérald Darmanin