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Police Officer Stabbed on French Riviera, Authorities Say Police Officer Stabbed on French Riviera, Authorities Say
(about 3 hours later)
PARIS — A French police officer was attacked and stabbed as he sat in his patrol car early Monday morning in the city of Cannes, on the French Riviera, according to the French authorities.PARIS — A French police officer was attacked and stabbed as he sat in his patrol car early Monday morning in the city of Cannes, on the French Riviera, according to the French authorities.
While the officer was unharmed because he was wearing a protective bulletproof vest and the assailant was quickly taken into custody, the incident triggered alarms because of the brazen nature of the assault and because of a history of terrorist attacks against the police in France.While the officer was unharmed because he was wearing a protective bulletproof vest and the assailant was quickly taken into custody, the incident triggered alarms because of the brazen nature of the assault and because of a history of terrorist attacks against the police in France.
“I am immediately heading there this morning and express full support for the national police and the city of Cannes,” Gérald Darmanin, France’s interior minister, said on Twitter. Gérald Darmanin, France’s interior minister, quickly left Paris for Cannes and was scheduled to meet with the officers involved in the incident, several of whom shot at the attacker to stop him.
“The police officers bravely and professionally responded and saved the life of their colleague and neutralized the individual,” Mr. Darmanin told reporters in Cannes.
Éric Ciotti, a lawmaker who represents the Alpes-Maritimes area that includes Cannes, on Twitter called the assault a “terrorist attack,” and several French media outlets, quoting anonymous police sources, said the assailant had said during the attack that he was acting “in the name of the prophet.”Éric Ciotti, a lawmaker who represents the Alpes-Maritimes area that includes Cannes, on Twitter called the assault a “terrorist attack,” and several French media outlets, quoting anonymous police sources, said the assailant had said during the attack that he was acting “in the name of the prophet.”
But the French authorities have not yet officially announced a suspected motive for the attack, and the identity of the assailant was not immediately clear. But the French authorities have not yet officially announced a suspected motive for the attack. France’s antiterrorism prosecutor’s office, which handles terrorism cases nationwide, had not taken over the case by Monday afternoon.
The local police said on Twitter that the attack occurred in front of the main police station on Boulevard Carnot, in the center of Cannes, and that the situation was under control. Mr. Darmanin did not identify the attacker and declined to comment on what the man might have said during the attack, which occurred in front of a police station in the city center.
David Lisnard, the mayor of Cannes, said on Twitter that one of the police officers involved in the incident had fired at the assailant but that no one had been killed. But he said the assailant was an Algerian man in his late 30s who had legally arrived in France from Italy in recent years and who had filed for a French residency permit several weeks ago. The man had no criminal record and had not been flagged by intelligence services for extremism, Mr. Darmanin said.
“The circumstances of the attack are being clarified,” Mr. Lisnard said. The officer was sitting in a police car with three colleagues around 6:30 a.m. and was about to go on patrol when the assailant walked up, “ostensibly to ask for some information,” Mr. Darmanin told reporters.
A French police union official, who was not authorized to speak publicly about an ongoing case, said the officer was sitting in a police car around 6:30 a.m. when the attacker walked up to the vehicle and stabbed him three times in the chest. “Once the door was opened, he attacked with a knife,” Mr. Darmanin said. The attacker stabbed the officer in the stomach before trying to attack another officer. Several of the officers then shot the assailant, who was hospitalized with serious injuries, Mr. Darmanin said.
The attacker also tried to stab another officer who stepped out of the vehicle, according to the union official, who said the assailant was shot several times by a third officer in the car and seriously injured. The officer was “extremely shocked” but unharmed thanks to his bulletproof vest, Mr. Darmanin added.
Security forces have become a recurrent target for Islamist terrorists in France over the past decade.Security forces have become a recurrent target for Islamist terrorists in France over the past decade.
In April, a knife-wielding Islamist extremist killed an officer at a police station about 25 miles southwest of Paris before being shot dead.In April, a knife-wielding Islamist extremist killed an officer at a police station about 25 miles southwest of Paris before being shot dead.
Other attacks include an Islamic State assailant who fatally stabbed an off-duty police officer and his companion, a police employee, at their home in 2016. The next year, a gunman killed a veteran police officer on the Champs-Élysées in Paris.Other attacks include an Islamic State assailant who fatally stabbed an off-duty police officer and his companion, a police employee, at their home in 2016. The next year, a gunman killed a veteran police officer on the Champs-Élysées in Paris.
And in 2019, in one of the worst attacks on the French police to date, a radicalized police employee stabbed four of his colleagues to death at the Paris Police Headquarters.And in 2019, in one of the worst attacks on the French police to date, a radicalized police employee stabbed four of his colleagues to death at the Paris Police Headquarters.
French police officers have complained in recent years that their job has become increasingly dangerous and they feel embattled because of growing criticism and pushes for reform over issues like discriminatory practices and police brutality.
Linda Kebbab, an official at the Unité SGP-FO police union, said that “there has been an awareness in recent years that police have become a daily target” of attacks by terrorists and extremist political militants.
The French Riviera has also paid a heavy price to terror attacks. A year ago, a knife-wielding assailant killed three people in a basilica in Nice, the same city that was struck by a truck attack that left 86 people dead in 2016.The French Riviera has also paid a heavy price to terror attacks. A year ago, a knife-wielding assailant killed three people in a basilica in Nice, the same city that was struck by a truck attack that left 86 people dead in 2016.
Thirty-six terrorist attacks have been thwarted by intelligence and security services since 2017, according to the French authorities.