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One person was killed and two were injured, including one seriously, this Friday in a knife attack perpetrated in Villejuif (Val-de-Marne) by a man who was then shot dead by the police.
A man stabbed this Friday three people in a park in Villejuif (Val-de-Marne), leaving one dead and two injured, one serious, before being shot by police. The attack, revealed by BFMTV, took place around 2 p.m. in the vast Hautes-Bruyères park, which notably shelters sports grounds and family gardens, in this commune located in the near southern suburbs of Paris.
For reasons still unknown, the assailant attacked passers-by and killed a man and injured two, one serious and another light, according to the initial assessment of the authorities. He also “tried to attack other victims who have managed to avoid it,” said Créteil prosecutor Laure Beccuau during a press briefing held on the spot with the Secretary of State for the ‘Interior Laurent Nuñez.
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He then headed to the Carrefour shopping center in the neighboring commune of L’Haÿ-les-Roses, which had to be “confined” for several hours, the city mayor Vincent Jeanbrun told AFP. “Fortunately, the police were quickly alerted and were able to quickly go to the scene and neutralize him by killing him,” he added. Local police from the anti-crime brigade indeed fired on the assailant at Haÿ-les-Roses, injuring him fatally.
“We heard screams, after we heard 3 shots. I went out to see. After there were another 5 or 6 shots and sirens. And we barricaded ourselves in the garage”, said Rouane Yazid, 40, owner of a nearby garage.
A photo taken on the spot just after the attack and transmitted to AFP shows the assailant lying on his back at a crossroads, dressed in what appears to be a black djellaba suit. “He obviously intended to continue his attacks” in the shopping center, “added Vincent Jeanbrun. According to Laurent Nuñez, the intervention of the police prevented” the continuation probably of a murderous journey “.
“Psychological disorders”
According to the mayor of Villejuif Franck Le Bohellec, the passer-by killed is a 56-year-old Villejuifois. “He was walking with his wife when the attacker approached, he wanted to protect his wife and it was he who took the stab,” said the city councilor.
According to a source familiar with the matter, the seriously injured is a man and the slightly injured is a woman. Both were transported to hospitals in Val-de-Marne for examination, added Laure Beccuau.
An investigation for “assassination and attempted assassination” was opened and entrusted to the judicial police of Val-de-Marne.
The attacker suffered from “psychological disturbances” and was not known for radicalization, but “elements related to religion” were found in its effects, according to concordant sources. Under the identity of Nathan C., this young man was “known for acts of common law, but unknown to the specialized intelligence services”, added these sources close to the file.
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“Deadly journey”
“Our security and rescue forces intervened in Villejuif with reactivity, composure and professionalism”, tweeted the Minister of the Interior Christophe Castaner, sending them his “recognition”.
For the time being, the investigation is being conducted under the authority of the Créteil prosecution, but the national anti-terrorist prosecutor Jean-François Ricard was also present on the spot, alongside Laurent Nuñez and the Paris police prefect Didier Lallement.
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This attack comes while France has been living under a constant terrorist threat since the wave of unprecedented jihadist attacks that began in 2015.
In 2019, the anti-terrorist justice system seized three attacks: the knife attack in March of two guards of the prison of Condé-sur-Sarthe by a radicalized prisoner, the bombing attack which injured 14 people in May outside a bakery in Lyon, and the massacre perpetrated at the beginning of October at the Paris police headquarters.
On this latest attack, the investigation has not yet been able to officially determine the motivations of Mickaël Harpon, the suspected radicalization agent who stabbed four of his colleagues before being shot.
In more than four years, the wave of attacks in France has left 255 dead, if we include those of the police headquarters. In total, 60 attacks have been thwarted since 2013, including the last at the end of September 2019, according to the Ministry of the Interior.
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