The 47-year-old victim was assaulted in the middle of the street. In cardio-respiratory arrest when the firefighters arrived, she could not be revived. The suspect is on the run.
A woman died after being attacked in the middle of the street with a knife this Sunday morning in Nantes, we learned from the firefighters. They were unable to revive her. The suspect is on the run and an investigation for “voluntary homicide” has been opened. BFMTV.com provides an update on this case.
• The 47-year-old victim
According to the Nantes public prosecutor, Renaud Gaudeul, who held a press briefing during the day on Sunday, the victim was 47 years old. Cleaning lady in a health establishment, she was going to work during the events. “She had just left her home in the immediate vicinity of the scene of the attack and was on her way to work,” he explained.
The firefighters were warned around 6:30 am, by three individuals, “alert by the cries of the victim who called for help”, according to the magistrate. The facts occurred in the lower part of the Bellevue district, a priority district of Nantes.
“When the firefighters arrived, the victim collapsed at their feet and the emergency services who arrived on the scene could not do anything to resuscitate him,” he added.
• A dozen “sharp wounds”
The victim’s body has “nearly a dozen sharp wounds on the upper body”, added the prosecutor.
Mother of four adult children, the victim lived alone with two of her children, added the magistrate. Of French nationality, she was “probably veiled” and had been living apart for several years.
• The suspect on the run, an open investigation
The suspect, for his part, fled, according to witnesses who witnessed the attack, which occurred for an as yet undetermined reason. “The whole question is whether the victim and the suspect knew each other”, detailed the magistrate, specifying “that no hypothesis is favored at this stage”.
“An investigation has been opened for intentional homicide,” said Renaud Gaudel, adding that there is “no arrest at this stage”. The judicial police have been seized of the investigation. An autopsy is scheduled for Monday morning.
• Strong emotion in Nantes
In the Bellevue district, “this attack aroused great emotion on the spot, because several members of his family live in the immediate vicinity of the facts”, explained the prosecutor.
The mayor of Nantes, Johanna Rolland (PS), confirmed “the death of a woman in Bellevue after a stabbing this (Sunday) morning”.
“I am in constant contact with the Prefect and the Public Prosecutor. Everything is being done to find the author of this appalling crime”, assured Johanna Rolland on Twitter, sending “all (her) support to the family and to the relatives of the victim.
The homicide occurred three weeks after the September 24 rape of a 40-year-old woman in downtown Nantes, sparking a debate over the city’s security. These last facts had occurred on a Saturday shortly before 6:00 a.m. on the island of Nantes, near the yellow crane. The victim said she was going to a friend’s house when she was assaulted. In this case, two men of Sudanese nationality were implicated and imprisoned.