Counter-terrorism prosecutor Jean-François Ricard said the attacker, who killed four officials of the Paris police headquarters on Thursday, "would have adhered to a radical vision of Islam." The assailant, employed since 2003, was in contact with "individuals of the Salafist Islamist movement," said the prosecutor.
The first investigations revealed his "approval of certain abuses committed in the name of this religion", "his wish not to have certain contacts with women", "his justification" of the attacks of Charlie Hebdo in 2015, "his change of dress code for a few months, "added the antiterrorist prosecutor.
Five dead including the assailant
The attack began on Thursday afternoon, on the first floor of the police headquarters, at the offices of the DRPP, the Paris Intelligence Directorate. The 45-year-old police officer, who is in charge of computer maintenance of the service, suddenly pulled out a ceramic knife. He hit six colleagues, four of them fatally, before being shot in the courtyard of the building.