At the police headquarters, he stabbed four colleagues - and was subsequently shot dead by a police officer. Before this act, the Messerangreifer of Paris had worked agitated, as the wife of the 45-year-old assassin said according to investigators. Michaël H. showed an "unusual and restless behavior".
The radio station France Info reported, citing police circles, the perpetrators had according to his wife before the attack on Thursday had "visions" and "heard votes." The father of two children, aged three and nine, was hard of hearing and was considered disabled. According to the station BFMTV he stabbed with a ceramic knife.
The search of the apartment of the perpetrator brought according to the investigators, no evidence of radicalization. The computer scientist who worked in the police department had converted to Islam 18 months ago. Further findings, the police hopes from the evaluation of his computer.
So far no indication of radicalization
A neighbor in the town of Gonesse northeast of Paris described the man as "very quiet". He had gone to the mosque regularly, but showed no signs of fanaticism. The French government warned against speculation about the motive of the offender. "Because you are a Muslim, you are far from being a terrorist," said a government spokeswoman. "A conversion to Islam is not automatically a sign of radicalization."
After the announcement of the conversion to Islam, many people have referred to the perpetrator in online networks as "terrorists" and "Islamists". Many drew a direct link to the series of attacks in France, which has killed more than 240 people since 2015.
The unparalleled knife attack unleashed horror and grief in France. Head of state Emmanuel Macron and government officials went to the crime scene to talk to staff. According to media reports, the probable background of the crime is an internal conflict within the police department. However, a terrorist background is not excluded so far.
The domicile of the alleged perpetrator was searched, said chief investigator Rémy Heitz. As judiciaries supplemented, the offender's wife was taken into police custody. According to French media reports, the attacker was deployed in the department of "Direction de renseignement" of the police department - this department deals, among other things, with the fight against terrorist threats.
