A police officer was attacked with knives in front of the central police station in Cannes (Alpes-Maritimes), Monday, November 8, by a single man who was neutralized by gunfire. Arrived on site around 11 am, the Minister of the Interior, Gérald Darmanin, delivered the first elements of the investigation into this attack.
>> DIRECT. Cannes: the suspect had “no criminal record” and was unknown to the intelligence services, announces Gérald Darmanin
A policeman saved by his bulletproof vest
The facts occurred around 6:30 am this Monday morning, reported Gérald Darmanin. “The four policemen were in the car, they were going to take their duty”, detailed the Minister of the Interior. A lone man approached the police vehicle that was parked in front of the central police station in Cannes, “to request information”. He opened the driver’s door and put him “several stab wounds” to the thorax.
However, the weapon failed to penetrate the officer’s bulletproof vest. The man then walked around the vehicle to attack the captain who was sitting in the front, in the passenger seat, but two other crew members, including “a young peacekeeper” said the minister, prevented him from doing so by using their service weapons, seriously injuring the man.
“It is in a courageous and professional way that the police officers responded and saved the life of their comrade”, welcomed Gérald Darmanin, who clarified that the suspect was “between life and death”. At the end of his press briefing, the Minister of the Interior was to meet the four police officers targeted by this attack, “very affected psychologically but not physically”, did he declare.
The unknown police suspect
In front of the press, the Minister of the Interior gave more details on the profile of the suspect. He is a man of Algerian nationality, who frequently traveled between France and Italy, where he had a residence permit. The 37-year-old suspect learned franceinfo from police sources was “regularly present on the national territory” Gérald Darmanin said. He had recently applied for a residence permit in France, which the authorities had not granted him.
According to the first elements of the investigation, when he stabbed the policeman, the attacker allegedly said he was doing it “in the name of the Prophet”. The Minister of the Interior was very cautious about this possible terrorist motive, refusing to qualify the facts.“[Le suspect] has no criminal record and was not known to the police. He was not listed in any of the radicalization files “, developed Gérald Darmanin. The investigation has so far been entrusted to the Nice judicial police.