A 27-year-old Moroccan man was arrested and taken into police custody after a knife attack which left four people injured in the Lyon metro this Sunday afternoon.
An investigation was opened for “attempted intentional homicide”, said prosecutor Thierry Dran in a brief press release and at this stage, “there is no element” to support terrorist motivation, according to a police source.
“Several hospitalizations due to psychiatric problems”
“At this time, the report shows 4 victims, none of whom have a life-threatening condition: two were rescued in an absolute emergency, a third person is in a relative emergency and a fourth was slightly injured,” said a press release. of the prefecture of Auvergne-Rhône Alpes.
“Several witnesses, shocked, were also taken care of by a psychological support unit,” according to the same source. “The suspect, of Moroccan nationality and aged 27, is unknown in the files. He was the subject of several hospitalizations due to psychiatric problems,” according to the prefecture.
The suspect taken into custody
He was placed in police custody, according to the Lyon public prosecutor who entrusted the investigations to the Lyon DIPN. Two of the injured were hit in the abdomen and a third in the arm, according to a police source. Two had been taken care of in the metro in a state of absolute emergency, according to the firefighters who intervened after the attack.
The Auvergne-Rhône-Alpes prefecture initially reported three injuries. The events occurred around 2:40 p.m. in metro line B which serves Part-Dieu station, at Place Jean-Jaurès, in the 7th arrondissement.
The metro has reopened
The metro reopened after 6:00 p.m. “The City of Lyon condemns this particularly serious act,” declared on X the deputy mayor responsible for security, Mohamed Chihi.
“The nightmare continues”, reacted on X Nicolas Dupont-Aignan, referring to the “victims of the incompetence of our leaders”.
The prefect of the Auvergne-Rhône-Alpes region and prefect of the Rhône Fabienne Buccio affirmed her “support” for the victims and their loved ones. She also thanked the “staff of the interdepartmental management of the national police who arrested the suspect very quickly” while welcoming the intervention of the firefighters and the SAMU.