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French police had no option but to shoot the attacker dead, who later on was identified as a mentally ill person.
One person died and two were injured in a knife attack in a park in Villejuif, 8 km (5 miles) south of central Paris, by a man who was later shot down by French police.
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The survivors are being treated in nearby hospitals, Laure Beccuau, the prosecutor whose office is handling the case, told reporters who also explained the suspect tried to attack other victims during his murderous spree, who were able to escape.
Beccuau declined to disclose details about the attacker and there’s still no indication of his identity or the motive for the attack.
According to the mayor of Villejuif, Franck Le Bohellec, the deceased is a resident of the commune, who "was walking with his wife when the assailant approached her, tried to protect her and it was he who was stabbed."
The crime scene was immediately cordoned off by the police vehicles and ambulances lined a road approaching the park. Laurent Nunez, the deputy interior minister, visited the place and expressed the aggressor would likely have hurt more people if officers had not shot him when they did. “It was an extremely courageous act,” he emphasized.
According to coincident sources linked to the case, the aggressor, identified as Nathan C. and born in Lilas (Sena-San Denis), suffered from "psychological disorders" and was not known for radicalization.
However, "elements related to religion" were found in its effects, according to several sources linked to the case.
An investigation for "murder and attempted murder" has been opened.
"We heard screams, after 3 shots. I went out to see what was happening. Then there were 5 or 6 shots and sirens. We entrenched ourselves in the garage," Rouane Yazid, a garage owner, told AFP.
This attack occurs in a France that lives under a constant terrorist threat, and just a few days after the fifth anniversary of the jihadist attacks against the satirical newspaper Charlie Hebdo and a Kosher store of the Hyper Cacher chain, on January 7th and 9th, 2015.
In 2019, the anti-terrorism justice dealt with three attacks: a stabbing in March of two guards from the Condé sur Sarthe prison (northwestern France) by a radicalized detainee, Michael Chiolo; a bomb attack in front of a bakery in Lyon (east center) in May, which injured 14 people; and an attack in the Paris police prefecture, which caused four deaths on October 3.
In this latest attack, the investigation has not yet been able to officially determine the motives of Mickael Arpón, the official suspected of radicalization, who killed four of his colleagues with a knife before being killed.
If these four victims are included, the wave of attacks in France has caused 255 deaths since early 2015.
Since 2013, 60 attacks were thwarted, the last one at the end of September, according to the Interior Ministry.
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