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Paris Police Question Knife Attack Suspect’s Wife as They Seek a Motive France Considers Terrorism Motive in Knife Attack Against Paris Police
(32 minutes later)
PARIS — An employee of the Paris Police Headquarters accused of killing four of his colleagues with a knife on Thursday was born in the French overseas territory of Martinique, had a hearing disability and was a convert to Islam, police union officials said on Friday, but the motive for the attack remained a mystery. PARIS — French antiterrorism prosecutors on Friday took over the investigation into the killing of four people at Paris Police Headquarters, suggesting investigators were considering a possible terrorism motive.
The Paris prosecutor’s office said on Friday that the suspect’s wife was being questioned by the police, but it declined to comment on reports that she had told investigators that her husband had been erratic and agitated on the night before the attack and had said he was having visions and hearing voices. The exact reasons for the opening of a terrorism investigation were still unclear, but it was likely to raise questions about whether the suspect — who worked in the Paris police intelligence unit, a highly sensitive department — had been sufficiently vetted.
The Paris police chief, Didier Lallement, said the police were not “excluding any hypothesis” about what had motivated the suspect, a 45-year-old computer specialist who worked in the police’s intelligence unit and was a 20-year veteran of the force with an uneventful record. Prosecutors in Paris said that “elements gathered at this stage by investigators” had led them to hand over the investigation to France’s national antiterrorism prosecutor’s office.
He was shot dead by an officer after a stabbing rampage in the massive building adjacent to Notre Dame Cathedral, in which three men and one woman were killed. They did not provide details, including whether an interview with the suspect’s wife or analysis of his cellphone and computer had guided their decision. A spokesman for the antiterrorism prosecutor’s office could not be reached immediately to comment.
“The police prefecture was struck at its heart, like never before in the past,” Mr. Lallement said at a news conference in Paris. “This tragedy is all the more terrible for us that this attack occurred inside the Police Headquarters and was carried out by one of us.” Earlier on Friday, French authorities had cautioned that investigators were not ruling out any motives in the stabbing rampage.
The suspect, a 45-year-old computer specialist, was described by authorities as a 20-year veteran of the force with an uneventful record. He was born in the French overseas territory of Martinique, had a hearing disability and was a convert to Islam, according to police union officials.
But the timing of the man’s conversion was not entirely clear, and the authorities had previously been careful about characterizing its relevance.
Sibeth Ndiaye, a spokeswoman for the French government, told the broadcaster Franceinfo on Friday that “converting to Islam is not an automatic sign of radicalization” but that “the facts need to be examined with precision.”
The Paris prosecutor’s office said earlier on Friday that the suspect’s wife was being questioned by the police, but it declined to comment on reports that she had told investigators that her husband had been erratic and agitated on the night before the attack and had said he was having visions and hearing voices.
The French authorities have not officially identified the suspect. But his neighbors in Gonesse, a suburb about seven miles northeast of Paris, described the man as a quiet and otherwise unremarkable, telling the French news media that he sometimes had attended a local mosque.
The suspect was shot dead by an officer after a stabbing rampage in the massive building adjacent to Notre Dame Cathedral, in which three men and one woman were killed.
“The police prefecture was struck at its heart, like never before in the past,” Didier Lallement, the Paris police chief, said at a news conference in Paris. “This tragedy is all the more terrible for us that this attack occurred inside the Police Headquarters and was carried out by one of us.”
Mr. Lallement denied suggestions that security at Police Headquarters had been lax, adding that any visitors underwent strict security checks, including with metal detectors, and that several areas of the building were restricted to holders of specific badges.Mr. Lallement denied suggestions that security at Police Headquarters had been lax, adding that any visitors underwent strict security checks, including with metal detectors, and that several areas of the building were restricted to holders of specific badges.
He acknowledged, however, that the security setup had been designed mostly to prevent assailants entering the building, not to foil attacks from within. Entrance checks, for example, are not as strict for police officers and other employees, who are not systematically searched.He acknowledged, however, that the security setup had been designed mostly to prevent assailants entering the building, not to foil attacks from within. Entrance checks, for example, are not as strict for police officers and other employees, who are not systematically searched.
Mr. Lallement also praised the officer who shot the suspect, a young police officer who had recently finished training and had arrived at headquarters just six days ago.Mr. Lallement also praised the officer who shot the suspect, a young police officer who had recently finished training and had arrived at headquarters just six days ago.
The French authorities have not officially identified the suspect. But his neighbors in Gonesse, a suburb about seven miles northeast of Paris, described the man as quiet and otherwise unremarkable, telling the French news media that he sometimes had attended a local mosque.
The timing of the man’s conversion was not entirely clear, and the authorities were careful about characterizing its relevance in the case.
Sibeth Ndiaye, a spokeswoman for the French government, told the broadcaster Franceinfo on Friday that “converting to Islam is not an automatic sign of radicalization.” She added that the authorities had not seen any evidence of the assailant’s “potential radicalization.”
She said that “the facts need to be examined with precision” and stress that “being Muslim does not make you a terrorist.” But she also added that terrorism was not being ruled out as a potential explanation for the attack.
Hundreds of police employees gathered on Friday to observe a minute of silence in the courtyard of the Paris Police Headquarters, a 19th-century building in the center of Paris that sits across from Notre-Dame on the Île de la Cité, one of the islands on the Seine.Hundreds of police employees gathered on Friday to observe a minute of silence in the courtyard of the Paris Police Headquarters, a 19th-century building in the center of Paris that sits across from Notre-Dame on the Île de la Cité, one of the islands on the Seine.
The outburst of violence on Thursday occurred during the same week that some of the largest protests by French police officers in nearly 20 years unfolded. The protesters expressed discontent about working conditions, a record number of suicides and tense relations with the French public plaguing the ranks.The outburst of violence on Thursday occurred during the same week that some of the largest protests by French police officers in nearly 20 years unfolded. The protesters expressed discontent about working conditions, a record number of suicides and tense relations with the French public plaguing the ranks.
Mr. Lallement sought to dispel the notion that the French police were at odds with the general population.Mr. Lallement sought to dispel the notion that the French police were at odds with the general population.
“In these moments I measure how ridiculous the slogan suggesting that ‘Everybody hates the police’ is,” he said, referring to chants that were sometimes hurled at the police during the Yellow Vest protests this year. “What I saw yesterday was the authorities and lawmakers, but also many citizens, who expressed their support for the police, their love of the police.”“In these moments I measure how ridiculous the slogan suggesting that ‘Everybody hates the police’ is,” he said, referring to chants that were sometimes hurled at the police during the Yellow Vest protests this year. “What I saw yesterday was the authorities and lawmakers, but also many citizens, who expressed their support for the police, their love of the police.”