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France knife attack suspect charged with attempted murder

The man detained in the stabbing of six people including four young children in the French Alpine town of Annecy has been charged with "attempted murder", a prosecutor said Saturday.

Published: 10 June 2023 15:39 CEST

French Prosecutor Line Bonnet (R) and Judicial Police Director Damien Delaby (L) hold a press conference in Annecy on June 10, 2023 following the recent mass stabbing.

French Prosecutor Line Bonnet (R) and Judicial Police Director Damien Delaby (L) hold a press conference in Annecy on June 10, 2023 following the recent mass stabbing. The attack suspect has been charged with "attempted murder". Photo: JEAN-PHILIPPE KSIAZEK / AFP

Abdalmasih H. “did not wish to speak” during his 48 hours in police custody nor before the magistrates leading the investigation, public prosecutor Line Bonnet-Mathis told a press conference.

After two psychiatric evaluations, Abdalmasih H. was deemed “compatible with police custody”, she said, adding doctors determined he did not suffer from delusions.

READ ALSO: Local heroes recount French knife attack

However, she added that it was too early to diagnose or rule out other psychological pathologies at this stage.

The victims of Thursday’s attack at a playground in the idyllic lakeside town popular with tourists were no longer in a life-threatening condition, Bonnet-Mathis said.

The children, aged between 22 months and three years, were initially hospitalised in a serious condition, while one adult was also seriously injured and another lightly injured.

READ ALSO: Macron says ‘positive’ news on children hurt in France knife attack

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Man shoots 2 officers in Paris police station after grabbing gun

The incident happened in the French capital’s 13th district shortly before 10:30 pm on Thursday night.

One of two officers shot and seriously wounded at a police station in Paris was fighting for his life Friday, the police chief of the French capital, Laurent Nunez, said.

The man was arrested for “a very violent attack on a woman” with a box cutter.

The policemen took him to the police station and had him blow into a breathalyser when the attacker grabbed one of the weapons, said Nunez. He then seriously wounded the pair of officers.

Both officers were immediately transferred to hospital.

“[The officer’s] life is still in danger,” Paris police prefect Laurent Nunez told broadcaster France Info.

Shootings in police stations in France are very rare.

The prosecutor’s office said three investigations had been launched – including “the attempted murder of the woman” and the “attempted murder of persons holding public authority.”

The third was being carried out by the IGPN, the national police’s internal affairs department, to look into the use of “intentional violence with a weapon by a person holding public authority”, as is routine when an officer uses their weapon.

Nunez did not provide any information about the attacker.

Police do not know whether the man knew the woman he had attacked, adding that the police officers called to the scene had to break down the door of the flat, he said.

The suspect was wounded by return fire and hospitalised. His life is not in danger, according to prosecutors.

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