the assailant’s motive is unknown at this stage

A knife attack took place on the morning of Thursday June 8 in Annecy (Haute-Savoie). On a video relayed on social networks, we see a man brandishing a knife amid cries of panic. He returns to the square where he has already attacked children. A passer-by tries to intervene, hits him with his bag and runs after him. But the aggressor returns to the playground and heads straight for a woman and her stroller. The stab wounds rained down, four very small children were seriously injured. The man finally walks away chased by witnesses. He is only 9:45 a.m.but the park is already very crowded.

The assailant’s motive is unknown at this stage.

Some minutes more later, the police arrive on the scene. A witness says that the police asked the assailant to get down, and that, when he refused, they shot him. But the shot hit one of the men trying to get in the way. He fell to the ground, and the assailant threw himself on him to stab him. The police eventually neutralized the attacker. Thursday evening, one of the two injured adults is in absolute emergency. This is also the case for the four injured children. The assailant is a 31-year-old Syrian, whose motive is unknown at this stage. According to the public prosecutor of Annecy, Line Bonnet-Mathis, the man is only very slightly injured. He is still in police custody, Thursday evening, at the Annecy police station.