The facts took place this Monday morning around 7 am. A police patrol from the railway network brigade (BRF) opened fire at the Gare du Nord against an individual armed with a knife who was threatening them, according to Interior Minister Gérald Darmanin.
This morning around 7 a.m., a police patrol was threatened by an individual armed with a knife in public transport in the Ile-de-France region. The police used their weapon, thus removing any danger, for themselves and for the travelers.
— Gérald DARMANIN (@GDarmanin) February 14, 2022
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This man approached the police near the tracks. They asked him several times to drop his weapon, which did not deter the individual, according to a journalist from France Télévisions present on the spot at the time of the events. The weapon would be a knife with a blade of 30 centimeters on which would be engraved “ACAB” (“All cops are bastards”, in French, “all cops are bastards”). According to our information, three or four shots were fired. According to a police source, five casings were found on the spot. It is an officer who used his weapon. There were no injuries among the police. But the assailant died despite the intervention of the emergency services, confirms a police source. The investigators found an identity card in the name of Stéphane B. and his identity is being confirmed.
This man born in January 1991 is from Belfort, according to our information. If we do not know what he has been doing since his arrival in Paris, the investigators have already retraced his journey on Monday morning: Dressed in black, he arrived at 4:50 a.m. in the Gare du Nord, took out his knife, before putting it away and sitting down and talking to a homeless man. At around 6:50 a.m., he headed towards the police patrol which did not fire immediately due to the crowd around.
“I have the legal right to kill French police officers”
But, a Twitter account corresponding to this name published these words in early January: “Whether you like it or not, I have the legal right to kill French police officers. »
An investigation has been opened on the head of attempted voluntary homicide, announced the Paris prosecutor’s office in a press release. The investigations were entrusted to the 2nd DPJ. The IGPN was also seized to determine the conditions of use of their weapon.
“We were in the store, and we immediately understood what was going on when we heard the detonations and saw people running in panic,” a newspaper vendor told us. I’ve been through two wars, so it doesn’t make me hot or cold. But I know that for other merchants at the station, it must be very different. The climate here is good, we know that there is necessarily a risk because we work in a station. But today, risk can be everywhere. You know, I live opposite the Bataclan”.
“My hands are still shaking”
Another shopkeeper testifies: “We know that it can happen when we work in a station, but we avoid thinking about it every morning. I heard the three shots. The instructions are very clear: we immediately lower the curtain. It is both the protocol and a reflex. My hands are still shaking. The prosecutor went to the spot. According to Jean-Baptiste Djebbari, Minister of Transport interviewed on RMC, the man is “known to the police for wandering in the station”. The terrorist track is “a priori, at this stage ruled out”, he adds.
Hassan from the Deneuville chocolate shop was ten meters from the crime scene: “I saw the police ask the man to stop. And pull out their guns. I immediately understood what was happening. Our orders are formal, in these situations, we immediately take shelter. I managed to get out of the store, unlike the two saleswomen at Bara. So I didn’t see the police shoot, which makes the situation less shocking. The Bara sandwich shop is indeed the only store not to have reopened its doors as soon as the security perimeter was lifted. His two employees, visibly moved, did not wish to testify.
Thirty police officers on site
In the entourage of the police headquarters, it is estimated that the recurrence of anti-police discourse favors the passage to the act of “fragile individuals”. And in a tweet, the prefect of police Didier Lallement “welcomes the courage of the police officers who, at the Gare du Nord, knew how to react with cold blood to a cowardly attack. “According to the police union Alliance, in a press release, it is “a premeditated act with the sole aim of killing the cop. “The threat is very real, the rookie in the street a privileged target and the anti-cop terrorist act clearly identified”.
