| More on this story from yesterday. |
The suspected killer, said to be an asylum seeker in his thirties, was initially reported as having struck outside a bakery in Romans-sur-Isère, in the south-east of the country, by outlets including the MailOnline, citing local media.
However, a later BBC report ‐ which did not mention the suspect’s nationality or alleged cry of "Allahu Akbar!" ‐ said he attacked the shopkeeper and customers at a tobacconist before moving on to a nearby butcher’s shop.
Christophe Castaner, France’s interior minister, has offered his condolences to the victims — five of whom remain in critical condition — and confirmed that the suspect is now under arrest and investigators seeking to confirm his motives.
The suspect’s roommate is also said to be under arrest.
| The Times of Israel adds: |
“He was found on his knees on the pavement praying in Arabic,” the prosecutor’s office said.
According to witnesses cited by local radio station France Bleu Drome Ardeche, he shouted “Allah Akbar!”(God is Greatest) as he stabbed his victims.
Interior Minister Cristophe Castaner, who visited the scene, said two people were killed and five others injured.
“This morning, a man embarked on a terrorist journey,” he said.
The initial investigation has “brought to light a determined, murderous course likely to seriously disturb public order through intimidation or terror,” according to the national anti-terrorist prosecutor’s office (PNAT).
It said that during a search of the suspect’s home, “handwritten documents with religious connotations were found in which the author complains in particular that he lives in a country of non-believers”.
The suspect, who obtained refugee status in 2017, was not known to police or intelligence services in France or Europe, PNAT said.
| Update from Deutsche Welle at 11:30 a.m. EDT: |
Altogether three Sudanese nationals have now been detained over the incident: the alleged assailant — a refugee in this 30s — an acquaintance of his and a man who was living in the same household, police said.