After the knife attack in a Parisian suburb in which one person was killed and others injured, the investigators assume an Islamist motive. The anti-terrorist prosecutor took over the investigation one day after the crime. This was announced by the authority in the French capital with reference to a radicalization of the perpetrator and the apparently targeted nature of the crime. It had recently become known that the attacker had called "Allah Akbar" (God is great) and spared a Muslim passerby.
A 22-year-old attacker attacked several people in a park area with a knife on Friday afternoon in the Paris suburb of Villejuif. One person was killed and two others injured. The police shot the perpetrator. The local public prosecutor had already released details on Saturday afternoon and said that a terrorist background was not excluded.
Créteil prosecutor Laure Beccuau said at a press conference that 22-year-old Nathan C. called "Allah Akbar" during the crime. He also spared a passerby who identified himself as a Muslim by saying a prayer in Arabic. Afterwards, C. committed his actions with "extreme violence" and "extreme determination".
The suspect is said to have had psychological problems since childhood
Beccuau also provided further information on the attacker's state of health. He was treated in a psychiatric facility until May. Accordingly, he suffered from psychological problems since childhood. In 2017, he reportedly converted to Islam. The authorities had not noticed any radicalization of the 22-year-old in advance.
The deed took place a few days before the fifth anniversary of the attack on the satirical newspaper Charlie Hebdo in January 2015. Twelve people were killed in the Islamist attack.
France has been hit by a series of attacks since 2015 that have killed more than 250 people. The attacks mostly had an Islamist background. The last time an administrative employee converted to Islam stabbed four police officers in the Paris police headquarters in October.