A Sudanese migrant was shot and then arrested by police after allegedly going on a stabbing spree in the French city of Clermont-Ferrand on Sunday, leaving at least three people wounded.
The 34-year-old Sudanese man is alleged to have stabbed a neighbour at around 2:30 pm local time, before going on to attack other pedestrians. When police arrived on the scene, the man reportedly “charged at a police officer with his knife,” Le Figaro reported.
After seeing his colleague come under attack, a fellow officer on the scene shot the alleged knifeman, first in the arm, and then in the abdomen and side as the attacker continued to come towards him.
Local prosecutor Eric Serfass said that “the severity of the injuries on the victims and the attacker, who is of Sudanese nationality, are still to be determined”.
The prosecutor claimed that “at this stage, no evidence suggests the terrorist nature of the facts”.
The suspected attacker is said to have previously been convicted in the same city of “outrage, rebellion, violence against a police officer, and death threats”.
Serfass added that the man was also under “psychiatric supervision” at the time of the attack.
Despite his previous conviction, the migrant was not removed from France, a common occurrence which has become a major political issue ahead of next year’s presidential election.
The local branch of the anti-mass migration National Rally party said in a statement: “Yet another incident. Right in the heart of the city. In a public space. Clermont-Ferrand is no longer spared: assaults, insecurity, and tensions are becoming part of residents’ daily lives. Places meant for living are all too often turning into zones of anxiety.”
The RN party branch called for a “massive increase in police presence in neighbourhoods and the city centre,” increased “video surveillance in high-risk areas”, stricter knife controls, and frequent police patrols in high-traffic areas.
According to Le Figaro, the city has been experiencing a crime wave over the past year as a result of conflicts between drug trafficking gangs.
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