Mickaël Harpon had killed four of his colleagues at the Paris police headquarters in early October. New elements of the investigation point to the terrorist track, which has still not been officially confirmed.

Research carried out on the internet by Mickaël Harpon an hour before his attack at the Paris police headquarters in early October accredits the investigators' terrorist hypothesis, AFP learned from sources close to the file on Wednesday. "About an hour before the attack, just before buying the knives he used, he carried out a search on the internet 'How to kill infidels?'", Said one of these sources, confirming information from the Parisian .

This element was brought to light thanks to first partial exploitations of a telephone of the attacker, who was protected by a password and could not be unlocked during the flagrancy investigation, added this source. Secretary of State Laurent Nuñez, however, remained cautious on Wednesday. "From there to conclude that it is a terrorist act, the investigation must take place and we will see what the magistrates decide," he said before the parliamentary commission of inquiry into possible dysfunctions. within the PP.

Motivations not officially determined

On October 3, Mickaël Harpon, an employee of the prefecture's intelligence department, stabbed four of his colleagues on the premises of the prestigious institution, before being shot dead. The investigation into this case, entrusted to anti-terrorist investigating judges, has not yet been able to officially determine the motivations of this agent who converted to Islam a decade ago and suspected of radicalization.

The attack, the modus operandi of which corresponds to the recurrent calls by the Islamic State (IS) group to attack the police and representatives of the State, was not claimed. However, IS mentioned it in one of its weekly propaganda letters.