Emmanuel Macron on site. The Head of State arrived, around 3 p.m., at the Léon-Gambetta high school, in Arras (Pas-de-Calais), where a knife attack left one dead and two injured, Friday October 13. He is accompanied by the Minister of the Interior Gérald Darmanin and his Education counterpart Gabriel Attal. The city of Arras has set up a crisis unit. At the National Assembly, deputies respected a minute of silence to express their solidarity “faced with horror” of the attack, to the resumption of their suspended work at the end of the morning. Follow our live stream.
The main suspect arrested. “The perpetrator was arrested by the police”, announced the Minister of the Interior. He is a former student of the establishment, of Chechen nationality, born in Russia, aged 20 and on S file, according to a source close to the investigation. His brother was also arrested, Franceinfo learned from a police source.
The suspect under surveillance. The man suspected of the attack was under surveillance by the General Directorate of Internal Security (DGSI). He had been checked on Thursday, without anything being reproachable to him, continues the same source, which emphasizes that there was no evidence to announce a move to the act. Furthermore, the brother of the suspect, who is imprisoned, was arrested in 2019 as part of a foiled attack plan. The suspect and his 16-year-old brother were taken into police custody, franceinfo learned from a source close to the investigation.
The National Anti-Terrorism Prosecutor’s Office takes action. The Pnat has opened an investigation for assassination in connection with a terrorist enterprise, attempted assassination in connection with a terrorist enterprise and terrorist criminal conspiracy with a view to preparing crimes of harm to persons. The investigations were entrusted in particular to the anti-terrorist sub-directorate of the national directorate of the judicial police and to the general directorate of internal security.
A teacher killed. The person fatally injured by stab wounds is a teacher. Another teacher is injured and a technical agent in relative emergency was injured by several stab wounds, a police source told franceinfo.