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CRIME

Anger as ‘radical’ inmate shoots French policeman

France’s Justice Minister Christiane Taubira came under fire on Tuesday after a radicalized inmate on the run after not returning to prison following temporary leave shot a policemen in the head during a botched robbery and car chase.

Published: 6 October 2015 09:03 CEST
Anger as 'radical' inmate shoots French policeman
Police officers search for evidence in a street in Ile-Saint-Denis, northern suburb of Paris search for evidence after the shoot-out. Photo: AFP

Police unions reacted angrily on Tuesday after a radicalized prisoner shot a policeman, leaving him in a critical condition.

The inmate, who had been on the run since being allowed temporary leave in May, was killed in the shoot-out after succumbing to his injuries.

The injured officer, aged 36, is in hospital with the interior minister describing his condition as “desperate”.

The shoot-out occurred after two men attempted to rob a warehouse in the Saint-Ouen to the north of Paris.

It turns out the dead man, a criminal with a history of violent crime who had reportedly been radicalized in prison, had been on the run since May.

The man was supposed to return after a weekend’s leave but failed to do so.

It has emerged he was the subject of a “fiche S”, which means anti-terrorism authorities had reason to believe he was a potential threat.

Unions have called on the government to explain why such a dangerous individual was allowed out of prison.

The police union Alliance says Justice Minister Taubira “must be held accountable because the fact our colleague is fighting for his life could have been avoided.”

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CRIME

Two girls wounded in knife attack outside French school

An assailant on Thursday wounded two girls aged 6 and 11 in a knife attack close to their school in the east of France and was later arrested, officials said.

Published: 18 April 2024 16:33 CEST
Two girls wounded in knife attack outside French school

The 11-year-old was stabbed outside the school in the town of Souffelweyersheim, on the outskirts of Strasbourg, while the six-year-old was attacked by the same man nearby.

Both received superficial wounds, police said, adding the attacker did not appear to have any known links to radicals and was not previously known to the security services.

Both received superficial wounds, police said, adding the attacker did not appear to have any known links to radicals and was not previously known to the security services.

Both girls are being treated in a paediatric hospital. Parents were later in the afternoon allowed to pick up their children, who had been confined to the school in the immediate aftermath of the attack.

The attacker, born in 1995, was arrested in the area where he attacked the second girl, the police said. He no longer had the knife in his hand and did not resist arrest, it added.

The attack came as Prime Minister Gabriel Attal announced a series of measures aimed at cracking down on violence committed by schoolchildren against their peers. There was no indication so far that the attacker had a link with the school.

“I’m really scared. We’ve been reassured that the children are safe inside, but we don’t know when we’ll be able to get them back,” Sarah, a mother of an eight-year-old pupil, told AFP before the green light was given to collect the children.

“A friend called me. She saw the commotion in front of the school as she passed by. Her reflex was to call me so that I could pick up my son.”

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