The attack on the high school in Arras left one person dead and two seriously injured. At Gambetta high school in the city of Arras, capital of the Pas de Calais department, a man hit a teacher, killing him and injuring two other students. The man was immediately arrested. Le Parisien paints a disturbing portrait of the terrorist. His name is Mohammed Mogouchkov: his father was expelled from Russia years ago. His brother was initially in prison because he planned an attack on the Elysée, then he returned there because he acted as a spokesman for ISIS propaganda. According to the broadcaster Bfmtv, Mogouchkov shouted “Allah Achbar” during today’s attack on a teacher. Images of what happened are circulating online, including a shot from a window that appears to overlook the high school’s courtyard. The teacher was killed, and no further details are known about the other two seriously injured people in the attack. Mogouchkov had already been targeted by the French security forces: as we learned from the local press, the man of Chechen origin had been under surveillance for around ten days because he was registered with the letter “S”. For French President Macron, the teacher killed today “undoubtedly saved many lives.” “The teacher who was killed first intervened and undoubtedly saved many lives,” declared Macron, who then expressed his appreciation to all the teachers and congratulated them on the courage and “responsiveness of all the internal security services” and emergency services. “France is once again affected by the barbarity of Islamic terrorism,” finally declared the number one in the Elysée Palace.
The identity of Mogouchkov’s family
The attacker’s family would consist of seven members: father, mother and five children. They would all be in France, but none of them have ever received the documents for permanent residence, let alone French nationality. Mohammed Mogouchkov’s father was expelled from Russia years ago. The mother and children currently live in a reception center. Her expulsion was opposed by some NGOs in 2014 following her case. In 2019, problems arise with the French justice system. The eldest son Mosvar was imprisoned for involvement in a planned attack on the Elysée Palace. In 2023, the final prison sentence of five years followed for failure to report: his role in the operation would have been to broadcast the scenes of the attack and distribute them on the Internet. At some point he was granted the electronic armband, but it was revoked because Mosvar resumed spreading violent ISIS propaganda content on social media.
The warning from the Interior Ministry
According to reconstructions in the French press, just this morning, October 13, the Ministry of the Interior had sent out a warning message recommending that the highest level of security be maintained in “all schools” in France, and not just Jewish schools, as previously said. It is unclear how long the action was planned. According to French media, the attacker’s brother was arrested near another school in Arras but was unarmed. Emmanuel Macron could reach the city in the afternoon; parliamentary work has been interrupted for the time being.
Alarm in another French city, a 24-year-old arrested in Limay
In the Yvelines department, in the Île-de-France region, another alarm was raised in the town of Limay. A 24-year-old man, already known to police for his Islamic radicalism, was arrested after he emerged from a prayer room with a kitchen knife. The arrest took place near Condorcet High School on Charles Tellier Street. The French citizen would have been arrested by the officers before entering the school: he must answer for carrying a prohibited weapon, as this type of knife is considered a category “D” weapon.
(ANSA/EPA/Teresa Suarez photo on cover)
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