A priest and a nun were injured in a knife attack on Sunday, April 24, in the morning, in the Saint-Pierre-d’Arène church in Nice (Alpes-Maritimes). The suspect, a man suffering from disorders psychiatric, was arrested by the police. Franceinfo summarizes what we know about this case.
The vital prognosis of the injured is not engaged
The facts took place on Sunday, around 10:30 a.m., in the church Saint-Pierre-d’Arène in Nice, explained the prefect of the Alpes-Maritimes, Bernard Gonzalez. A man, armed with a knife, rushed on the priest who was preparing the office and “stabbed repeatedly”, detailed Eric CiottiMP for the Alpes-Maritimes.
The attacker was first stopped by parishioners, says the dean of the building, Gil Florini, at the microphone of France Bleu Azur. A nun then intervened “and they were both stabbed”. Right away, “Parishioners jumped on him. A parishioner took a candlestick and ran at him with it”he continues. The priest was hospitalized at the Nice University Hospital, announced the town hall of the city. His vital prognosis is however not engaged, said the Minister of the Interior, Gérard Darmanin, on Twitter.
An attack took place this morning in a church in Nice. The priest is injured. No vital prognosis involved. Solidarity with the parishioners and thanks to the police who quickly arrested the author. The Prefect is there.
— Gérald DARMANIN (@GDarmanin) April 24, 2022
The priest has “received several stab wounds including one in the thigh, one in the calf and one in the chest”reports Gil Florini, confirming that “His days aren’t in danger either”. The priest also able to join the wounded nun. This one has a cut on the hand, which “will require a few points, but his life is not in danger”.
The attacker was unknown to the police
The attacker was arrested without difficulty by the national police and the municipal police, according to a police source from France Télévisions. The man, born in 1991 in Fréjus and residing in Nice, was not known to the police, according to this same source.
The prefect of the Alpes-Maritimes affirmed, during a press conference, that the author of the stab wounds was hospitalized several times in a psychiatric unit, in particular at the Sainte-Marie hospital in Nice, and was the subject of a follow-up. According to information from France Télévisions, the suspect is “a priori bipolar”.
His motives have yet to be clarified. The young man said “to the police force” that‘he wanted to kill Emmanuel Macron, but he finally fell back on a church’, according to a police source. Nevertheless, “witnesses must be heard to confirm what may have been said orally”commented to France Bleu Azur the prosecutor of Nice, Xavier Bonhomme, for whom “caution is required”.
An open investigation, the terrorist track for the moment dismissed
An investigation was opened for “attempted voluntary homicide and violence with a weapon”. She was handed over to the police. According to the first elements of the investigation, the attack did not “no terrorist character”, said the prefect. “The information provided at this stage does not justify our referral”said the National Anti-Terrorist Prosecutor’s Office at the end of the morning, reports France 3 Provence Alpes-Côte d’Azur.
The suspect’s father went there to cooperate with the investigation, said Christian Estrosi, during a press conference. The mayor of Nice went there, as did the deputy of the Alpes-Maritimes, Eric Ciotti. He shared his “huge emotion” after this assault. The Minister of the Interior, Gérald Darmanin, meanwhile expressed on Twitter “his solidarity with the parishioners”, and also thanked law enforcement “who arrested quickly” the aggressor.