The man who injured a police officer on the evening of Thursday, July 18, near the Champs-Elysées in Paris, is also suspected of having killed a 16-year-old teenager a few hours earlier.
“A police officer was the victim of an attack in the 8th arrondissement of Paris,” warned the resigning Minister of the Interior, Gérald Darmanin, on X on the evening of Thursday, July 18. The member of the police force “intervened following a call from officers securing a store” to report an undesirable individual, when he was injured by the said individual who was armed with a knife. Another police officer returned fire with his weapon, neutralizing the individual.
The suspect, shot in the abdomen, was taken to Pompidou Hospital in a critical condition, but died of his injuries in the evening. The police officer injured “in the neck, at the cervical level” is also in a critical condition “but his life is not in danger”, specified the police prefect Laurent Nuñez.
When the police intervened with the suspect reported for a check, the man fled with a knife in his hand. He turned around and injured a police officer in the ear. Another police officer used his service weapon towards the attacker. “The individual was threatening,” insists Laurent Nunez, who emphasizes that the use of the administrative weapon “is entirely proportionate.” An IGGN investigation should be opened.
No terrorist motivation
Why was the 27-year-old suspect armed with a knife near the Champs-Elysées? While the question remains unanswered, the possibility of a terrorist plot has been ruled out. “There is no terrorist motivation at this stage, nor any link to the Olympic Games,” said Laurent Nuñez. “A criminal investigation into the attempted murder of a police officer, for which the 1st judicial police district is involved,” has been opened, added the prosecutor’s office. The individual is not known to terrorist intelligence services,” added the Paris police prefect.
The man suspected of a murder that occurred a few hours earlier
The man who injured the police officer, and died from his own injuries, could be involved in the murder of a 16-year-old boy that occurred earlier in the day on July 18, in Courbevoie in Hauts-de-Seine, according to information from RMC. He is suspected of having killed the young man with a bladed weapon just a few hours before the police intervention near the Champs-Elysées. “A link seems to be able to be made between” the two crimes, the Nanterre prosecutor’s office said overnight.
The suspect suffered from mental health issues according to his family, reports RMC, and regularly squatted in the apartment where the 16-year-old was found unconscious, stabbed twice by the police. The victim, whose life was in danger, died in the evening.