Minutes before the horrific crime, a disturbing message is posted on Twitter in the form of a claim.
At 4:55 p.m. this Friday, an Internet user under the pseudonym "Tchétchène_270" wrote: "From Abdullah, the servant of Allah, to Macron, the leader of the infidels, I executed one of your hellhounds who dared to belittle Muhammad, calm his fellows before they inflict harsh punishment on you… (sic) ”.
The tweet is accompanied by an excruciating photo of a severed head with the caption: "It's Monsieur P."
Three weeks to the day after the chopper attack on the former Charlie Hebdo premises in Paris, terrorism has struck again in France in a manner as despicable as it is symbolic.
And it is the turn of National Education this time to cry one of its own.
It is past 5 p.m. this Friday when a team of municipal police officers notices the body of a horribly mutilated man near the Aulne college in Conflans-Sainte-Honorine (Yvelines).
His head lies a few yards away.
A suspect - with a juvenile appearance - stands near the body and threatens officials with what appears to be a gun.
He then fled in the direction of the rue de la Haute-Borne before being caught 800 meters further by a patrol of the Conflans anti-crime brigade by car, allée des Bergeronnettes, in the neighboring town of Eragny (Val- of Oise).
Not listed S, nor known to territorial intelligence
After shouting "Allah Akbar (
Editor's note: God is great, in Arabic
)", the assailant walks towards the police in a hostile manner before being shot down by ten shots in response.
Declared dead a few minutes later, an Airsoft-type rifle and a knife with a small blade were found on him.
It does not seem to be the murder weapon since no trace of blood is there and a witness says he saw the killer pick up something on the ground before fleeing.
According to our information, the first elements indicate that the suspect's name is Aboulakh A., a young man of 18 years of Chechen origin and born in Moscow (Russia).
What would correspond to the pseudonym used by the Net surfer who published the macabre photo of the beheading, as well as pictures in the glory of “free Chechnya” on Twitter.
Aboulakh A. is not listed S nor known to territorial intelligence for any radicalization, according to our information.
On the other hand, he is known for common law acts.
As for the mutilated victim, it is indeed “Mr. P.”, Samuel P., a professor in history and geography who taught at the college of Conflans-Sainte-Honorine near which he was assassinated.
While the national anti-terrorism prosecution (Pnat) seized the investigation, the first investigations, entrusted to the Sdat and the DGSI, favor the thesis of an act of reprisals committed by a radicalized Islamist.
A course that caused quite a stir
Samuel P. had indeed created a controversy at the local level after having taken the initiative, ten days ago, to provide a course on freedom of expression.
In this context, he had shown his 4th year students a caricature of the Prophet Muhammad.
Beforehand, he had taken care to leave the possibility to students who wish to leave the classroom.
This did not prevent causing a stir within the establishment.
Several parents of students were moved by this situation.
In a video uploaded to YouTube, a father expresses his disgust and calls the teacher a “thug”.
He invites other parents to contact him.
Even if he uses unfriendly terms towards the professor, he does not call for violence against him.
Her daughter's filmed testimony - in which her face does not appear - has also been uploaded.
The college girl recounts the scene and how the teacher asked the Muslim students to raise their hands to warn them that they might be shocked.
The teenager explains that she refused to leave and says that the caricature represented the Prophet without clothes.
“We were all shocked, even those who were not Muslims,” she says, explaining that she experienced this episode as a lack of respect for her religion.
"He knew he was threatened with death"
Was the suspected terrorist galvanized by the heated controversy surrounding the course on social media?
Did he know the teacher and did he want to punish him?
The investigation will have to determine it.
Testimonies in the educational circle reveal that Samuel P. saw the situation very badly.
Calls for resignation had been launched.
"He knew he was threatened with death, at least on social networks, following a course on freedom of expression," reports the member of an association of parents of college students.
In the midst of the debate on the law on separatism, which aims to fight against Islamism, this barbaric attack targeting a profession less and less respected arouses strong emotion in the political class.
President Emmanuel Macron visited Conflans-Sainte-Honorine this Friday evening.
This attack comes in the midst of the January 2015 terrorist attacks and shortly after the attack in Paris by a Pakistani who wanted revenge for the republication of the caricatures of Muhammad by Charlie Hebdo.
It also highlights the weight of the Chechen community in the French jihad.
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"The Chechens represent between 15 to 20% of radicalized Islamists," said Jean-Charles Brisard, president of the Center for Terrorism Analysis (CAT).
The community is under increased surveillance by the internal intelligence service.
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