After the knife attack in France, the search for a motive continues. According to the prosecutor, there are still no indications of a terrorist background. The victims of the attack are all out of danger.
After the knife attack in France that injured six, the perpetrator was taken into custody for attempted murder. The 31-year-old man was silent about his motive both in police custody and before the investigating magistrate, said public prosecutor Line Bonnet-Mathis in Annecy.
There is still no evidence of a terrorist background. The man was psychiatrically examined, there was no evidence of delusions. All victims are out of danger, it said.
Unknown to the European security agencies
In the Alpine town of Annecy, the man injured several people with a knife, some of them life-threateningly, on a playground on Thursday. Four small children were among the injured. The police arrested the suspect shortly after the crime.
Shortly after the attack, Prime Minister Élisabeth Borne said that the arrested Syrian was unknown to the European security authorities. There is also no evidence of psychiatric treatment in the past.
Asylum application rejected in France
It is known that the 31-year-old has only been in France for a few months. According to Prime Minister Borne, he previously lived in Sweden for ten years. Although the man was recognized as an asylum seeker in Sweden, he had also applied for asylum in France in November. This application had been rejected four days before the crime. Whether this could have something to do with the fact is open.
The police had checked the man on Sunday because he had washed himself in Lake Annecy, Interior Minister Gérald Darmanin said, as reported by the newspaper “Le Parisien”. But there was no reason to hold him. The arrested man had no permanent residence in Annecy and apparently spent a lot of time in the park where the crime took place.