[ad_1]
French judges on Saturday handed preliminary charges of attempted murder to a man suspected of stabbing four young children and two adults in a park in the French Alps town of Annecy, an attack that reverberated across France and beyond.
Issued on: Modified:
The suspect is a 31-year-old Syrian refugee with permanent residency in Sweden. His name was not released.
The lead prosecutor, Line Bonnet-Mathis, told a news conference that the man was presented to investigating judges in the lakeside town and handed charges of attempted murder and armed resistance. He is in custody pending further investigation.
The prosecutor said the victims are no longer in life-threatening condition after Thursday’s stabbing rampage. The children, between 22 months and 3 years old, remain at a hospital in nearby Grenoble, where French President Emmanuel Macron visited them on Friday.
The six victims came from four different countries: France, Britain, the Netherlands and Portugal.
The suspect was examined by psychiatrists who deemed him fit to face charges, the prosecutor said. She said that the motive for the attack remained unclear but did not appear to be terrorism-related.
Witnesses said they heard the attacker mention his daughter, his wife and Jesus Christ, according to the prosecutor, who said he had Christian objects with him at the time of the attack.
Police detained the suspect after bystanders – notably, a Catholic pilgrim who repeatedly swung at the attacker with his backpack – sought to deter him.
‘Out of danger’
On Friday, Macron said two young French cousins who were the most critically injured had stabilised, and that doctors were “very confident”. Two wounded girls from Britain and the Netherlands had also improved, he said.
A critically injured adult – who was both knifed and wounded by a shot that police fired as they detained…
[ad_2]
