Paris, June 9, (dpa/GNA) – An attacker injured four young children and two adults with a knife in a park in the eastern French town of Annecy on Thursday, leaving the nation “in shock,” said President Emmanuel Macron.
He described the attack as “absolutely cowardly,” adding: “Our thoughts are with the victims and their families, as well as the rescue workers deployed.”
Investigators see no indications so far hinting at a terrorism motive. Two of the children and a man were initially in a life-threatening condition, police told dpa on Thursday. Two other children, around 3 years old, were slightly injured.
The suspected perpetrator was arrested. The Syrian had only been in France a few months and had no fixed abode. He had lived for a long time in Sweden, authorities said, but there was no history of violence or psychiatric problems.
Media reports said he had married a woman in Sweden and had a young child, but had recently split from his wife.
The exact circumstances of the attack were unclear. The broadcaster BFMTV reported that several groups of children had been in the playground near the famous Lake Annecy at the time of the incident.
Security forces were deployed quickly to the scene, France’s Interior Minister Gérald Darmanin said on Twitter.
The man went after small children in their prams several times, according to video footage, which the newspaper Le Parisien said it had verified.
“Two city employees tried to stop the perpetrator as he carried out his acts,” said Annecy Mayor François Astorg.
Ex-professional footballer Anthony Le Tallec witnessed the attack and said the suspect, then ran towards a couple of pensioners and attacked the elderly man, stabbing him twice. The police then overpowered him.
A British child is among the victims, Foreign Secretary James Cleverly was quoted as saying by PA Media.
“We have already deployed British consular officials who are travelling to the area to make themselves available to support the family,” he said.
“And of course we stand in strong solidarity with the people of France at this terrible time.”
German Chancellor Olaf Scholz said: “Germany is shocked by this inhuman and despicable act” while German Foreign Minister Annalena Baerbock added: “There is nothing more cowardly than attacking defenceless little children.”
Annecy public prosecutor Line Bonnet-Mathis said the attacker is still to be interrogated, adding that his motive remained unclear and that he was suspected of attempted murder.
The National Assembly interrupted its plenary debate in the morning for a minute’s silence. Parliamentary President Yaël Braun-Pivet said: “We hope that the consequences of this very serious attack will not be consequences that lead the nation into mourning.”
French Prime Minister Élisabeth Borne planned to go to the scene of the crime.
GNA