crime
Police officers threatened with knives: Marseille attacker dead
Police officers at the scene of the crime: In the southern French port city of Marseille, a man threatened police officers in front of the town hall with a knife. The attacker is dead. Photo: Jean-Francois Badias/AP/dpa
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In front of the town hall of Marseille, a man attacks the police with a knife – the officers shoot at him. The mayor says the worst could have been prevented.
In Marseille, southern France, a man threatened police officers in front of the town hall with a knife and was shot. The officers shot the attacker, a police spokeswoman said. Accordingly, the man died after the incident in the port city on Saturday morning. A police officer was also injured.
French Interior Minister Gerald Darmanin said the attacker was French. He was not known to the police and had no legal history. The investigation would reveal more. As the French newspaper “Le Figaro” reported with reference to the public prosecutor’s office, the perpetrator was in his late 50s and his motive was initially unknown. Darmanin was in Marseille for other appointments.
The injured police officer is still in shock but otherwise doing quite well, Darmanin said. Local police chief Philippe Angelelli told BFMTV that the police officer had a severe cut on his hand and pain in his arm and back.
According to Marseille Mayor Benoît Payan, the attacker attacked the police officers several times. They initially warned the man. Payan praised the police officers on Twitter. “Your level-headedness and professionalism made it possible to prevent the worst.”
There are repeated armed attacks on police officers in France. In November, a man stabbed a police officer outside a police station in Cannes. It was suspected that the man had mental problems. In May, a man stabbed an officer in a town near the city of Nantes. The suspected attacker at the time was mentally ill and radicalized.