A 39-year-old man shot after trying to attack a police officer at the Saintes police station

A man tried to attack a police officer with a knife on Tuesday evening, while he was in police custody at the Saintes police station. The police officer shot him, injuring him in the wrist and abdomen.

A 39-year-old man, placed in police custody, was shot Tuesday evening at the Saintes police station (Charente-Maritime), after trying to attack a police officer, France Bleu La Rochelle learned from the Saintes prosecutor, confirming information from the newspaper South West.

The attack occurred shortly before 9 p.m. The man is currently in police custody for intentional violence committed earlier in the day. He asks to go to the bathroom. When the police officer opens the cell door, the thirty-year-old man lunges at him and tries to hit him in the throat. The policeman steps back and orders the person in custody to put down the knife. He uses his gun. The inmate is injured in the wrist and abdomen.

The latter was operated on during the night. His days are not in danger according to the public prosecutor of Saintes. The man remains hospitalized under surveillance on Wednesday, and two police officers are stationed continuously in front of his room door. The prosecutor went to the police station on Tuesday evening, where he met a police officer “shocked, but not hurt”.

According to several police unions, the man had hidden the blade in his underwear, which was undetectable at the time of palpation. “It could have been dramatic”breathes Tyssem Bahaj, departmental secretary of the Unité union in Charente-Maritime. “The palpation remains summary, we cannot do a thorough search”he explains.

This attack took place on the same day that a European directive restricted video surveillance in cells. “There would be video surveillance, the colleague could have watched the individual’s behavior, see if he was looking for something in his underwear. Today, we are working a little blindly”deplores Tyssem Bahaj.

Two investigations were opened, the first for attempted murder of a person holding public authority. In particular, it should make it possible to understand how the person in custody could have been locked in a cell with a knife. Since Wednesday, the La Rochelle public prosecutor’s office (Charente-Maritime) has been in charge of this part of the case. The second investigation will establish the precise circumstances in which the police officer used his weapon.