A fire broke out on Saturday morning in La Grande-Motte, in front of the Beth Yaacov synagogue. The terrorist lead is being considered. The suspect was arrested on the night of Saturday to Sunday in Nîmes.
The essentials:
- An explosion caused a fire in front of a synagogue in La Grande-Motte. A gas cylinder inside a car parked in front of the doors of the place of worship is believed to be the cause of the fire.
- The alleged perpetrator was arrested by the RAID in Nîmes. He is believed to be a 33-year-old man of Algerian nationality. He is believed to have acted alone. He was injured in the operation, but his life is not in danger.
- The resigning Minister of the Interior, Gérald Darmanin, responded to Emmanuel Macron’s call to pass the word to the prefects of France to reinforce security around Jewish places of worship.
- A police officer was injured while trying to secure the area. He has been released from hospital and is doing better.
Live
11:09 – Three people in custody
Although investigators seem to believe that the suspect acted alone, two other people are in custody. They are members of the suspect’s entourage. The latter is still in hospital after being shot.
10:33 – Injured police officer released from hospital
The municipal police officer who was injured while trying to secure the area “left the hospital late this afternoon after undergoing tests”, the mayor of La Grande-Motte, Stéphane Rossignol, assured BFMTV on Saturday evening.
10:02 – The suspect’s profile
The alleged perpetrator of the fire in front of the synagogue in La Grande-Motte is a 33-year-old man of Algerian nationality. He was arrested on Saturday evening in Nîmes. Shots were fired, he was injured, but his life is not in danger. He claims to have set fire to his own car before fleeing and to have acted alone.
09:25 – The suspect was arrested by the RAID
The resigning Minister of the Interior announced that the suspect had been arrested. RAID teams intervened at around 11:30 p.m. in a building in the Pissevin district of Nîmes.
The alleged perpetrator of the arson attack on the synagogue has been arrested. Thanks to the police, and mainly the RAID, who intervened with great professionalism despite his gunshots.
— Gérald DARMANIN (@GDarmanin) August 24, 2024
Learn more
A fire broke out on Saturday, August 24 in front of the Beth Yaacov synagogue in La Grande-Motte (Hérault). According to information from BFMTV, firefighters intervened around 8:30 a.m. Two cars parked in front of the place of worship were on fire. A gas cylinder was reportedly stored in one of them. According to video surveillance images, a suspicious individual was leaving the scene a few moments before the flames ravaged the site. The doors of the synagogue were hit, but no one inside was injured. However, a municipal police officer was hit while setting up a security system. The exact cause or severity of his injury is not yet known.
A “manifestly criminal” act
In addition to the firefighters, bomb disposal experts were dispatched to the scene to try to control the fire. Gendarmes from the investigation unit of the Hérault group were also mobilized to carry out the initial observations.
Informed of the situation, the resigning Minister of the Interior, Gérald Darmanin, asked the prefects to reinforce the static presence of the police in front of Jewish places of worship. He speaks on X of a “manifestly criminal” act. He will go there in the afternoon, accompanied by the resigning Prime Minister, Gabriel Attal.