France: arrest of a suspect after the assault of a municipal policewoman
The GIGN men in position near La Chapelle-sur-Erdre, not far from Nantes.
LOIC VENANCE AFP
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A suspect was arrested on Friday May 28 after a manhunt to find the assailant of a municipal policewoman seriously injured with a knife in La Chapelle-sur-Erdre, near Nantes (west of country), the latest in a long series of attacks on law enforcement agencies.
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At the end of a manhunt, the suspect was arrested and three gendarmes were wounded, in the arm and in the hand, indicated the gendarmerie, this Friday, May 28.
"
The gendarmes neutralized the individual suspected of the knife attack of the municipal police officer of Chapelle-sur-Erdre
", confirmed on Twitter the Minister of the Interior Gerald Darmanin, who is expected on the spot.
The policewoman, whose vital prognosis is engaged, was injured in the premises of the municipal police of La Chapelle-sur-Erdre.
Helicopters and dog teams
The terrorist trail was not immediately confirmed. Contacted by AFP, the Nantes prosecutor's office did not respond. In total, 80 gendarmes, including the GIGN branch in Nantes, were deployed to find the perpetrator who fled with the policewoman's weapon. Two helicopters flew over the area and three dog teams and a squadron of mobile gendarmes participated in the search. The research section of the Nantes gendarmerie is responsible for the investigation.
"
Avoid the area and strictly respect the instructions of the #gendarmes,
" warned the national gendarmerie on Twitter.
The surrounding schools have been secured, according to the gendarmerie.
"
Children are confined to schools and colleges in the city,
" a municipal official confirmed to AFP.
"
We have drawn the curtains and we made the children lie on the ground, they have been like that for two hours,
" said a primary school teacher in a text message to AFP.
Two dramas
This attack comes a few weeks after two tragedies that have grieved the French police, while security is emerging as one of the main campaign themes of the regional elections, in a month, and of the presidential election, in a year. Stéphanie Monfeture, an administrative agent, was assassinated in April at the Rambouillet police station, in the Paris region, by a Tunisian who would have become radicalized. A few days later, a policeman, Eric Masson, was killed at a deal point in Avignon (south).
These two tragedies led the police unions to call for a rally, which mobilized several thousand people, on May 19 in front of the National Assembly in Paris to denounce the growing violence facing the police officers and the inadequacy of the judicial response.
The Minister of the Interior, Gerald Darmanin, and officials from across the political spectrum in France with the exception of part of the far left, had gone there.
(
with AFP
)
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To read also: France: national tribute ceremony for the policewoman killed in Rambouillet
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Criminality
France
Gerald Darmanin
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