• France: One dead and two wounded in a knife attack on the outskirts of Paris

The French National Counter-Terror Prosecutor's Office took on Saturday the investigation of the knife attack carried out on Friday, January 3 in Villejuif, outside Paris, considering that the aggressor had radicalized and prepared the deadly attack.

One person died and two were injured in the knife attack in a park in Villejuif. The aggressor, Nathan C., 22, fled the scene and went to L'Haÿ les Roses, a neighboring town. The assailant, who had psychiatric problems since he was a child, was shot down by police near a mall before he could attack more people.

In the first moments, the investigation for voluntary homicide had been in the hands of the Prosecutor's Office of Créteil. "Although the author of the facts presents important psychiatric problems, the investigations of the last hours have allowed to establish a safe radicalization as well as an organized preparation to go to the act," he explained in the statement. This data has led the Counterterrorism Prosecutor to take up the case and treat it as a terrorist act.

The preliminary investigation has also shown that the aggressor had made a "thoughtful and selective" journey in order to "seriously disturb public order through intimidation and terror," the prosecutor adds.

The Anti-Terror Prosecutor's Office has assumed the investigation for "murder and attempted murder in relation to a terrorist network and terrorist criminal association." At the moment, there is no evidence that the aggressor had accomplices and no terrorist organization has so far claimed the act.

The attack began around two in the afternoon (local time) in the park of Hautes-Bruyères in Villejuif. Nathan C., whose full name has not been disclosed by the French press, "initially approached a person in a threatening way to the shout of" Allah Akhbar " (God is great) and asked him to pray a prayer in Arabic, what he did, "Créteil Prosecutor Laure Beccuau explained at a press conference.

He then attacked for reasons unknown to a couple who had sports in the park. The 56-year-old man and neighbor of Villejuif died when he stood between his wife and the murderer. The woman and another person were injured.

The aggressor, who was wearing a blue screech, fled the park and went to L'Haÿ les Roses. He was shot down by the police an hour after the attack after refusing to lay down the gun. Nathan C. made a move that made the agents think that he could wear an explosive vest, which was finally proven not true.

In his backpack, the police found "the Qur'an, several works on the Muslim religion, some works that we can describe as psalmists and a testament letter, with the characteristic repetitions of the Muslim who is self-flagelled and who knows that he can make the great leap" said Philippe Bugeaud, deputy director of the Central Brigade of the Judicial Police (BCPJ).

According to investigators, Nathan C. had practically emptied his apartment in Paris, shortly before the attack. The police, however, have seized several tests, the content of which has not been disclosed.

The bank card that the aggressor carried when he committed the attack allowed his identification. Nathan C. had minimal judicial records for drug use and violence in a demonstration.

According to the researchers, Nathan C., who had seen a psychiatrist since he was 5 years old, had been hospitalized several times at the request of his family, but six months ago he interrupted his treatment.

The young man, who had converted to Islam in 2017, did not appear in the so-called "S file", of people likely to represent a danger to the security of the State because of its radicalization.

According to the criteria of The Trust Project

Know more

  • Paris
  • Islam
  • Attacks
  • Terrorism
  • France
  • international

France French Catholics celebrate Christmas Mass in Paris without Notre Dame for the first time in more than 200 years

France Nobody celebrates 35 hours of workday in France 20 years later

America Former police officer Mario Sandoval will be extradited to Argentina on Sunday