Knife attack in Paris: German tourist killed

As French Interior Minister Gérald Darmanin and the public prosecutor announced on Sunday night, the fatality was a German born in the Philippines in 1999. The perpetrator, who was known to be an Islamist, also injured two other people. He was arrested.

The perpetrator attacked a foreign tourist couple, Darmanin told journalists during a tour of the crime scene. His companion remained physically unharmed, but suffered a shock. According to the public prosecutor’s office, the fatality was born in 1999.

Darmanin explained that a taxi driver intervened. The attacker then ran across a bridge over the Seine to the other side of the river and attacked other people with a hammer: a Frenchman in his 60s and a foreign tourist. The interior minister did not disclose the nationality of the injured tourist.

According to police sources, the attacker shouted “Allahu Akbar” (God is great) during his attack. The Frenchman, born in 1997, was knocked out with a Taser and arrested. He is charged with murder and attempted murder. The national anti-terrorism prosecutor’s office took over the investigation.

According to Interior Minister Darmanin, the attacker had a criminal record. The young man was sentenced to four years in prison in 2016 for planning another attack. After his crime on Saturday, he said he couldn’t stand that Muslims were being killed in “Afghanistan and Palestine.” The Gaza war is leading to increased tensions in France with its large Muslim minority.

Police circles also said that the alleged perpetrator, who was born in France, suffered from psychological problems and was known as a radical Islamist.

An eyewitness who was in a nearby bar during the crime said he heard cries for help and saw people running away. A man “with a hammer in his hand” attacked another man, who then fell. After “five to ten minutes” the police arrived.

French President Emmanuel Macron expressed his “condolences” to the relatives of the German victim on the online service X (formerly Twitter). Prime Minister Elisabeth Borne declared on X: “We will not give in to terrorism.” At the same time, she praised “the courage and professionalism of our security and rescue forces” in the operation against the attacker. Darmanin also highlighted the “courageous” police intervention on X.

Two months ago, France was declared on the highest alert level for the risk of attacks after a radicalized ex-pupil stabbed a 57-year-old teacher and injured three other staff members at a school in Arras, northern France. The 20-year-old perpetrator, who came from Russian Ingushetia, had previously sworn allegiance to the jihadist militia Islamic State (IS).

In Paris there have been several acts similar to those on Saturday evening in recent years. In May 2018, a Russian-French attacker born in Chechnya killed a passerby with a kitchen knife and injured four other people before police killed him. IS claimed responsibility for the crime.

In February 2017, an Egyptian attacked security forces near the Louvre with a machete while shouting “Allahu Akbar.” He was sentenced to 30 years in prison in June 2021.

info By clicking on the icon you can add the keyword to your topics.

info
By clicking on the icon you open your “my topics” page. They have of 15 keywords saved and would have to remove keywords.

info By clicking on the icon you can remove the keyword from your topics.

Add the topic to your topics.