France - Toddlers and elderly people attacked with knife in park, Annecy, June 8 '23

[AliceInPain]

Several people have reportedly been injured after a knife attack in Annecy, south-east France.

The AFP news agency is reporting that six children are hurt and the suspect, a man, has been arrested.

As this is a breaking news story, we're hearing live reports as they come in, which we'll bring you right here.

Stay with us for updates.

In a park by the lake in Annecy, the children - aged around three - were on a morning outing with their minders when a man wielding a knife suddenly appeared and began to stab them, some in their pushchairs.

He ran from the scene and then attacked an elderly man who was walking nearby.

At this point police intervened, and the attacker was shot in the legs and overpowered.

Two children and the elderly man are reported to be in a life-threatening condition in hospital.

Police say the attacker is a Syrian man, aged 45, who was seeking refugee status.

Summary​

1. Children are in a critical condition following a knife attack in the alpine town of Annecy, south-eastern France, according to reports
2. The attack was carried out in a park by a Syrian man, 45, who was seeking refugee status, police say
3. French media report that the injured children are around the age of three and two of them, and one man, are in a critical condition
4. French President Emmanuel Macron has said "the nation is in shock" following the attack
5. The city's mayor has denounced the "appalling attack" and said a press conference will be held later

https://www.bbc.com/news/live/65843586

 

[AliceInPain]

Swedish article says the children were attacked when they were at a playground and the suspect has ties to Sweden.

(In Swedish)
Flera barn allvarligt skadade i knivattack i Frankrike – gärningsmannen uppges ha koppling till Sverige

 

[AliceInPain]

"We saw a person attacking children playing games, small ones, obviously that was his target."

"He was in a park square when he started the attack at about 9.45 in the morning. He targeted children indiscriminately, and also wounded an adult."

Daily Mail:
Multiple children aged around three stabbed by 'Syrian asylum seeker'

 

[AliceInPain]

There's a terrifying video on Twitter where you can see there are a bunch of parents/ carers in the playground and he went straight for the babies, one sitting in his pram

 

[Penny68]

Absolutely horrendous what he did to those innocent children and the adult.

At least thank goodness they have got him and hopefully he will never walk free again.

 

[Sarahlou]

Awful. I hope they all survive.

 

[bettyboop]

This is terrible. French-Canadian here. All I can say is, how can you be not only uncaring, but if looking for asylum, YOU'RE NOT GETTING ASYLUM NOW!!! Most likely a VERY LONG prison sentence, and not in a lovely Parisian apartment. I also would like to add although I am French, I have never been to France , unfortunately. JMO MOO Maybe someone in France can tell us about sentencing and such.

 

[worldwatcher]

There's a terrifying video on Twitter where you can see there are a bunch of parents/ carers in the playground and he went straight for the babies, one sitting in his pram

I saw it, madness and horrifying

Suspect 'sat on bench every day'
An employee who works by the pontoons at lake Annecy said he had seen the suspect before.

He told Le Dauphiné Libéré that the suspect had been “sitting on a bench in Le Pâquier every day for the past two months”
France stabbing latest: British toddler among children attacked in Annecy

 

[dotr]

France stabbing: Macron meets family of British girl in Annecy attack

Four children, the youngest aged 22 months, in a stable condition but grandfather who intervened has serious injuries

www.thetimes.co.uk

View attachment 427479

France stabbing attack leaves several children seriously wounded in Annecy, in the French Alps

Officials say the suspect in the stabbing attack in the French Alpine town of Annecy, who's in custody, is a Syrian national who had sought refugee status in the country.

www.cbsnews.com

View attachment 427478
A screengrab taken from a video obtained by AFPTV on June 8, 2023 shows a man armed with a knife running away after an attack on a group of pre-school children playing by a lake in the French Alps city of Annecy, wounding four children and at least one adult and sending shockwaves through the country.

'NATION IS IN SHOCK': Very young children critical after park knife attack in French Alpine town

Police detained the attacker, said Interior Minster Gerald Darmanin. Police said the attacker was a man in his thirties.

torontosun.com

''PARIS — As bystanders screamed for help, a man with a knife stabbed several very young children, including at least one in a stroller, and also assaulted adults at a lakeside park in the French Alps on Thursday. The savagery left at least two children and one adult with life-threatening injuries, authorities said.''

''A suspect, identified by police as a 31-year-old Syrian asylum-seeker, was detained.''

''The man appeared to shout “on name of Jesus Christ” as he waved his knife in the air, while people nearby could be heard screaming: “Police! Police!”

He slashed at a man carrying rucksacks who tried to approach him. Inside the enclosed play park, a panicked woman frantically pushed a stroller as the attacker approached, yelling “Help! Help!” and ramming the stroller into the barriers around the site in her terror.''

France knife attack leaves six people injured, including children

Police say the attacker was arrested, and his identity papers showed he's a Syrian national who holds refugee status in Sweden.

www.euronews.com

''Police arrested the attacker after shooting him in the legs near the scene of the attack.
The man was not previously known to local authorities, but police say was born in Syria in 1991, and had been granted refugee status in Sweden, where he had lived for 10 years. He entered France legally, and lodged a second asylum application in November 2022.''

 

[worldwatcher]

This is what we know so far about the knife attack in the French city of Annecy:

• The perpetrator is called Abdalmasih H ., a Syrian asylum seeker born in 1991. He is said to have applied for asylum in France in 2022. The police were able to arrest the perpetrator on the spot.

• The knife attack happened around 9:45 am this morning in a playground near the Pont des Amours in the French city of Annecy.

• There were 6 victims : 2 adults and 4 children (between 22 months and 3 years old). One adult and two children are in mortal danger.

• The identities of a few victims are now known: British, Dutch and German.

Translated from :
LIVE. Man valt kinderen aan met mes in speeltuin in Franse Annecy, één van zwaargewonde slachtoffertjes heeft Nederlandse nationaliteit

Also this:
"The attacker is a "Syrian national with refugee status in Sweden", she said, adding that he had applied for asylum in France but this was "overridden by the Swedish one which dates from 10 years back".

He has "no criminal or psychiatric record" and has a child "aged around the same age as those he attacked", she said."
France stabbing: Children attacked by knifeman in Annecy park

 

[dotr]

France stabbing: Macron meets family of British girl in Annecy attack

Four children, the youngest aged 22 months, in a stable condition but grandfather who intervened has serious injuries

www.thetimes.co.uk

 

[Gardenista]

Harrowing video shows Syrian refugee stabbing kids in French playground, including tot in stroller

Four kids aged between 22 months and 3 years suffered life-threatening wounds in the stabbing spree that French President Emmanuel Macron called “an act of absolute cowardice.”

nypost.com

Lead prosecutor Line Bonnet-Mathis later said four children — aged between 22 months and 3 years — suffered life-threatening wounds.

 

[PrairieWind]

That is sickening. Stabbing a toddler in a stroller. Wow.

 

[ChatteringBirds]

Oh how sad. I hope the victims will all be okay and that there will be full justice.

 

[Ontario Mom]

The video auto-played on twitter before I even realized what I was watching. Horrifying.

 

[AliceInPain]

I'm disturbed by all the adults who just walked and cycled past.

You can clearly hear the mother's screams ffs (some of the footage was posted on the nypost link above)
Could have stopped later to call emergency I guess, but most of them look so chill

Rucksack guy threw his bag at him to try and stop him =*(
And I can't get over the image of this man stabbing the little toddler in the pram right next to the mother =****(

For the person who asked, looks like French sentences are as laughable as most of the rest of Europe.
May get ten years, unless someone dies (and he may still only get ten) or his refugee status gets him deported.

Who in the world targets toddlers like this??????? Must be a special kind of sick...

 

[dotr]

Syrian refugee stabs a child in its pram in front of screaming mother

WARNING GRAPHIC CONTENT: Horrific footage shows a Syrian refugee repeatedly stabbing a toddler in its pram in front of his screaming mother in a frenzied attack in France.

www.dailymail.co.uk

''The attacker, identified as Abdalmash H, 31, clinched onto a necklace with a crucifix on it before he launched his 'abominable' rampage in a lakeside park in the town of Annecy, a tourist hotspot in southeastern France, at around 9.45am.

Distressing video shows the attacker running into the small playground and repeatedly stabbing a toddler in his pram while his screaming mother tries to protect him from the attack.''
Further dramatic footage shows the attacker, a recently divorced Syrian refugee who has declared himself a Christian, later being chased across the park by locals and cops before he was shot by a police officer and pinned to the ground.''


'''He called me around four months ago. He was living in a church,' his ex-wife said on condition of anonymity, saying he had left Sweden because he had been unable to get Swedish nationality.

He had applied for asylum in France but was rejected four days before launching his barbaric attack due to him already having refugee status in Sweden.''


''A class of secondary school children witnessed the atrocity. They are now receiving counselling following the traumatic incident.''

Police sources told BFMTV that a two year-old boy and his sister, three, are in a critical condition. A two-year-old British girl and a 22-month-old German boy was also injured in the attack, according to C-News.

A 70-year-old man, who was sitting on a bench when the knifeman launched his attack, was reportedly stabbed in the neck and rushed to hospital. ''

 

[Rolypolyoly]

I'm disturbed by all the adults who just walked and cycled past.

You can clearly hear the mother's screams ffs (some of the footage was posted on the nypost link above)
Could have stopped later to call emergency I guess, but most of them look so chill

Rucksack guy threw his bag at him to try and stop him =*(
And I can't get over the image of this man stabbing the little toddler in the pram right next to the mother =****(

For the person who asked, looks like French sentences are as laughable as most of the rest of Europe.
May get ten years, unless someone dies (and he may still only get ten) or his refugee status gets him deported.

Who in the world targets toddlers like this??????? Must be a special kind of sick...

Yep. Over here we would ask him who hurt his feelings and promise to do better .

I can't imagine those poor families terror .

 

[worldwatcher]

State extremely fragile'​

The French news channel BFMTV reports that the 22-month-old child is Dutch, the
three-year-old is a girl from the United Kingdom. The Dutch child is a boy and the two other two-year-old children are French, says correspondent Frank Renout on NPO Radio 1.


The boy was taken to a hospital in Geneva. The other three are undergoing surgery at the hospital in Annecy. "Their condition is extremely fragile," said the prosecutor."

Alle vier de kinderen in levensgevaar na mesaanval Annecy, motief dader onbekend

For the person who asked, looks like French sentences are as laughable as most of the rest of Europe.
May get ten years, unless someone dies (and he may still only get ten) or his refugee status gets him deported.

Snipped for focus and here we go:

"The interrogation of the perpetrator has not yet started, because according to various sources he is clearly not in a normal condition. He rolls on the floor and refuses to answer questions, writes BFMTV. He is examined by a psychologist to determine whether he can stay at the police station."

 

[Sarahlou]

I wouldn't be shocked if he has an undiagnosed severe mental illness. Really can't see many reasons as to why someone would do this, unless it was a terrorist thing but there's no suggestion of that.