man suspected of planting improvised explosive device in cathedral arrested

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The Saint-Etienne cathedral, in Toulouse, had been evacuated after the discovery of a suspicious package left by a man described as “unbalanced”.

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St. Stephen’s Cathedral of Toulouse was evacuated on the morning of Friday April 8 after a man described as “imbalance” left a suspicious package there before fleeing, learned franceinfo from a police source. According to our information, the package contained an improvised explosive device: a small bottle of acid wrapped in aluminum but without a firing device.

The suspect was arrested in the early afternoon by the police, announced the public prosecutor of Toulouse. “The person suspected of having left the package was arrested and placed in police custody. He will be heard. He was known to the police”, he indicated.

In the early morning, a sexton tried to control this man who had burst into the cathedral, reports France Bleu Occitanie. “I thought it was a delivery man”he explained. “I was more afraid for people than for me, I asked everyone to evacuate the cathedral. The fact that he struggled and ran away seemed suspicious to me.” There were no injuries. A large police force was immediately deployed to search for the suspect and to “neutralize” the explosive device.

Interior Minister Gérald Darmanin had reported on Twitter a “police operation” in downtown Toulouse before announcing 45 minutes later that it was over.


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