The Minister of the Interior indicated that the intervention of the forces of the order, this Wednesday, January 11 at the Gare du Nord, prevented “a much more serious murderous journey”.
[Mis à jour le 11 janvier à 12h44] An individual attacked several people this Wednesday, January 11, around 6:40 a.m. at the North Station, obviously at random, before being neutralized. An attack ? The act of an unbalanced? A brawl gone wrong? As indicated by the Minister of the Interior, his motives are at this stage very vague, the assailant was wounded by bullets, he is currently in critical condition, in an absolute emergency. According to information from BFMTV, the weapon used by the assailant would probably be “a small punch” or “a small knife”. A small bladed weapon, therefore, which would have been used to stab the targeted people. The Minister of the Interior also indicated that this weapon was “homemade”.
Gérald Darmanin reacted this Wednesday, on the spot, in front of the media. He gave the information he had, specifying the structure of the events that occurred in the Gare du Nord: “At 6:42 a.m., an individual threatened and attacked people at the entrance to the station and then inside station. At 6:43 a.m., he was neutralized by plainclothes police officers from the BRF’s Night Network Network Company, who were returning home after their night shift. These officers were equipped with their service weapon and their bulletproof vest, under the protocol put in place a few years ago to protect law enforcement,” the minister told reporters. “The assailant’s journey, even if it was very short, was extremely violent, he had time to attack 6 people”, he said, implying very clearly that the aggression could have resulted in a much larger number of victims.
“He attacked everyone who approached him”
BFMTV journalists collected the testimony of a person present in the Gare du Nord when the knife attack occurred. “We heard people screaming. We saw people on the ground, one of them hitting the other, some people tried to separate them. And I think that’s when the “Attacker pulled out his knife. People shouted ‘knife!’, everyone started running,” said the witness. “I helped a first victim when the attacker left a little further, she was in a state of shock. I had the impression that he attacked all the people who tried to approach him and who tried to neutralize it. […] I then heard gunshots, the police reacted very quickly. […] We are all very shocked, it could have been us, it could have been anyone in this station. […] The person I helped looked completely lost, I had the impression that the assailant was psychologically disturbed”.
Six injured Gare du Nord, the victims treated on the spot
Samu responders were dispatched to the scene to take care of the people attacked: according to information from the Ministry of the Interior, 6 people attacked were injured; the RMC radio site indicates that among the 6 victims is a police officer from the border police. The latter, who was not on duty this morning, had a bulletproof vest which protected him. According to information from Figarowearing this vest would have “saved” him.
BFMTV add that an injured person “presents a wound on the shoulder blade”, other other victims have only minor injuries, but that their medical care is necessary. The Paris prosecutor’s office indicates that the man injured in the shoulder blade is in “absolute emergency”, but the Minister of the Interior added that the vital prognosis of this person was not engaged.
The motivations of the individual are still unknown, an investigation has been opened by the Paris prosecutor’s office, for “attempted assassination”: justice therefore considers that the attack could have been premeditated. Note that at this stage, the anti-terrorist prosecutor’s office has not been seized. Another element to take into account at this stage: while certain testimonies – the reliability of which could not be established – indicated having heard the assailant shouted slogans pronounced during Islamist terrorist attacks, this information was denied by the Minister of the Interior, who judged that this information is not at all confirmed or confirmable at this stage.
Who is the author of the Gare du Nord attack?
According to France Info, the man first “threatened” several people before using his bladed weapon. BFMTV adds that the track of a “brawl” having gone wrong is to be considered, but insists that the circumstances of the event are “still unclear”. The hypothesis of a terrorist attack is evaluated, the trail of an act committed by an unbalanced person is also mentioned. The identity of the suspect has not yet been revealed, the man has been arrested, but has been taken care of medically given the nature of his injuries. It is not yet known if this individual will be able to be questioned by the investigators.
France Info adds that a security perimeter has been installed in the station, located in the 10th arrondissement of Paris. This station, which was very busy on Wednesday morning, is one of the busiest stations in Europe. According to the SNCF, the circulation of certain trains is affected, but the station is not closed.
The Hauts-de-France TER service gave some still partial information: “Traffic is disrupted on departure and arrival from Paris Nord”, wrote this SNCF entity on Twitter. The information was confirmed by Franck Dhersin, vice-president in charge of mobility, transport infrastructure and ports in the Hauts-de-France region.