A man armed with a knife, who had taken two women hostage in Paris on Monday afternoon before releasing one of them, was arrested, announced Tuesday, December 21, the French Minister of the Interior . The man was known to suffer from psychiatric disorders.
“ The hostage taker was arrested. There are no injuries. Thank you to the agents of the @prefpolice and in particular to the BRI », Tweeted the Minister of the Interior, this Tuesday, December 21. Known to suffer from psychiatric disorders, the madman, 56, presented himself under the identity of a former Tunisian magistrate, and had retained two women since Monday, December 20: a mother and her daughter. He had finally released the mother unharmed last night, shortly before 10 p.m., after long negotiations led by the Research and Intervention Brigade (BRI). These continued all night long in this hardware store in rue d’Aligre, near the Bastille, where the hostage taker was holed up, before his arrest shortly after 8 a.m. on December 21 and the release of the second. hostage, without making a victim.
Terrorist trail ruled out
The prefect of police Didier Lallement arrived on site at the end of the night. Given the psychiatric profile of the hostage taker, the terrorist trail was quickly ruled out by a police source. He was notably known to the police for having harassed a local doctor at his doctor’s office. After entering the store shortly before 3:30 p.m., the man first asked “ talk to the Minister of Justice “, Eric Dupond-Moretti, according to the police source. ” Following the hostage-taking in the 12th arrondissement, the minister obviously informed the negotiators that he was at their disposal. », Had indicated the entourage of the Keeper of the Seals.
The hostage taker also spoke, at his request, with Sylvie Noachovitch, the lawyer of the former gardener Omar Raddad, convicted in 1994 for the murder of a rich widow, Ghislaine Marchal, in Mougins (Alpes-Maritimes ). Justice ordered last Thursday to relaunch the investigations in this case, the first step before the review of the trial. “ He admires her a lot and thinks that she is a very good lawyer. “, A source close to the investigation told AFP.
Blocked street
Throughout the hostage-taking, the various accesses to the rue d’Aligre, known for its numerous food shops and its market, were blocked by police officers and the perimeter was also secured by soldiers from the Sentinel force. deployed as part of the Vipirate plan, noted an AFP journalist. An investigation was opened including the head of “kidnapping” and was entrusted to the police station of the 12th arrondissement, said the Paris prosecutor’s office.
(with AFP)