A Syrian asylum seeker injured multiple people, four of them children, in a mass stabbing attack after charging into a playground in a picturesque French alpine town.
The rampage in Annecy left victims as young as 22 months. Three were admitted to regional hospitals in critical condition. Mayor François Astorg said at a press conference their situation “for the moment” seems stable.
Emergency services swarmed the area and quickly airlifted the seriously injured victims to Grenoble, France, and Geneva, Switzerland.
The 31-year-old suspect, identified as Abdalmasih H., did not have a terrorist motive, according to the local prosecutor.
NBC News continues:
President Emmanuel Macron said in a tweet that the suspect had carried out “an attack of cowardice” and said those injured were “between life and death.”
Lawmakers in the French Parliament interrupted a debate to hold a minute's silence following news of the attack.
A group of school children were on a supervised trip to Lake Annecy in the country's south when the attack happened at 9.45 a.m. local time (3:45 a.m. ET), the French National Police said.
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Officials initially gave a higher count of those injured but later revised the tally down.
The suspect applied for asylum in France last year but was rejected, having already received refugee status in Sweden. He self-identified as a Christian on the application.
One park employee told reporters the accused became somewhat notorious for habitually sitting on park benches for hours without speaking to anyone.
“The guy comes to sit on a bench every day for two months, dressed in black, black backpack, dark glasses, bearded… He didn't speak.” Another park employee said he stayed at the park “from morning to night.”
Witnesses said he appeared to shout “in the name of Jesus Christ” after brandishing a knife.
A distressing video capturing much of the rampage spread online before being deleted. Additional footage shows locals chasing the suspect as screams for help pierce the air.
No motive for the attack has been shared as authorities continue their investigation.
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Many Muslims whom live in western nations will not change. For them we are the infidels. If we don’t become like them then all unbelievers die. Read their Sharia. Western nations are destroying themselves,
AND YOU LIBS WANT TO LET MORE OF THEM IN ALL OVER THE WORLD!!!