One day after a violent stabbing attack that injured four children and two adults, President Emmanuel Macron traveled to southeast France to meet with the recovering victims and a bystander who has been hailed as a hero for stopping the assault by swinging his backpack at the attacker. The French leader and his wife, Brigitte, visited a hospital in Grenoble, about 60 miles south of Annecy where the attack occurred. Prime Minister Élisabeth Borne reported that the children, all three years old or younger, had undergone surgery and were in stable condition.
According to the French authorities, the suspect is a homeless Syrian man who was granted refugee status in Sweden ten years ago and arrived as recently as last fall in France, where he was denied asylum due to his existing status in Sweden.
People paid their respects by leaving flowers and candles at a makeshift memorial near the lakeside park in Annecy where the attack unfolded. The attacker, using a switchblade knife, began assaulting families with strollers and other bystanders before being apprehended by police officers. After holding meetings with victims’ families, President Macron met with a 24-year-old man known to the French public only as Henri, who was highly commended after tackling the assailant.
In an interview with BFMTV, Henri recounted how he was in the park in Annecy during his tour of France’s cathedrals when he saw the assailant. He proceeded to run after the assailant, swinging his backpack at him and keeping a distance until another city employee carrying a long plastic shovel arrived. They pursued the attacker until the police arrived.
The assailant was heard shouting “In the name of Jesus Christ” in English. The authorities have reported that he had told immigration officers that he was a Christian and that he wore a cross at the time of the attack. They have, however, not fully identified him and have stated that the attack is not being treated as a terrorist-related incident.
The suspect, who was still in police custody and being questioned, is a Syrian refugee who had lived in Sweden for a decade after fleeing Syria in 2011 due to its civil war. It has been reported that the man left Sweden last year after failing to obtain Swedish citizenship. He was rejected asylum in France shortly after arriving last October, with the French authorities citing his refugee status in Sweden as the reason for his denial. The man was notified of his rejection days before the attack.
French authorities have disclosed that the suspect has no criminal record and had not been flagged by any security service prior to the attack. He was, however, briefly noticed by police officers last Sunday after he was seen washing himself in Annecy’s lake. A psychiatric evaluation was scheduled for Friday.
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