- By Hugh Schofield and George Wright
- BBC News in Paris and London
Jun 8, 2023 at 9:52 am BST
Updated 13 minutes ago
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Watch: Video appears to show Annecy Park’s stabber in the playground
Four very young children have been stabbed to death in a park near Lake Annecy in south-eastern France.
The police overwhelmed the attacker and arrested him, Interior Minister Gérald Darmanin said.
The children were reportedly three years old or younger and at least two were in critical condition.
British Foreign Secretary James Cleverly said one of the injured children was a British citizen. One of the other children is said to be Dutch.
Police have confirmed that the suspect is a 31-year-old Syrian who had refugee status in Sweden.
This story contains details that may concern some readers.
Regional MP Antoine Armand described the attack as “abhorrent” and said authorities were investigating but “knew very little”.
Video footage of the attack, uploaded to social media – too graphic to broadcast – shows a small playground where life goes on as usual. Children are running around and their parents and carers are there.
Then a man comes in with a knife and very quickly there are screams. He’s obviously looking for children to attack – and he attacks one in the stroller.
In one part of the video life goes on as normal, in another part a man walks around with a knife. You can see that he is actively looking for children.
French Prime Minister Élisabeth Borne and Mr Darmanin went to the scene of the crime.
Ms Borne told a news conference that four children and two adults were injured, some of them in intensive care.
The attacker has “no prior criminal or psychiatric record” and has a child “about the same age as the one he assaulted,” she said.
Annecy prosecutor Line Bonnet-Mathis told reporters the victims included a 22-month-old and a three-year-old, adding that the children were in a “serious condition”.
One of the children is Dutch, she said.
There “doesn’t seem to be any terrorist motivation,” she said.
“Your health is extremely fragile and you are still in dire straits today,” the prosecutor said, adding that an investigation into attempted murder is ongoing.
According to police, the suspect has refugee status in Sweden and recently came to France. He left a wife and a three-year-old daughter. In an application for refugee status in France last year, he indicated that he was a Syrian Christian.
During the incident, the attacker called on the name of Jesus Christ.
A woman identified as his ex-wife told BFM TV that her former partner was a Christian.
“He hasn’t called me for four months. (Our relationship) was cut off because we lived in Sweden and he didn’t want to live in Sweden anymore,” she said, adding that he hadn’t shown a violent streak before.
In recent years, France has become accustomed to knife attacks, often perpetrated by lonely young men with backgrounds in petty crime and Islamist connections. It is clear that this attack is of a different nature.
So far, most politicians are careful not to jump to conclusions, but it is inevitable that the attack will feed into the immigration debate.
picture description,
White roses can be seen in the children’s playground
The suspect is said to have attacked the children – some in prams – as they were visiting the park before fleeing the scene and stabbing an elderly man nearby.
The police intervened and the perpetrator was shot in the legs.
The French National Assembly has observed a minute’s silence and the roads surrounding the crime scene are blocked.
President Emmanuel Macron tweeted that the nation was “shocked” by the “act of cowardice”.
Mr Cleverly said British consular officials were traveling to the area “to support the family” of the injured child.
“We stand in strong solidarity with the French people at this terrible time,” he said at the Organization for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD) in Paris.
Former Liverpool footballer Anthony le Tallec was in town on the run at the time of the attack. He said he heard people screaming, “Run! Run!” and watched as police chased the alleged attacker after assaulting an elderly man.
He said he then continued his run along the lake, where he saw the injured children on the ground.
“It’s crazy to have that in Annecy,” he said.
He also claimed there was a delay before police shot the man with the knife.
Another woman, Eleanor Vincent, told the BBC she “knew something terrible had happened” as she approached the lake.
“People were going about their business or vacationing, like me, and it’s just shocking. I can’t describe it any other way.”
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