Attack at the Dieuze gendarmerie: the track of a suicidal act envisaged

Is this a terrorist act? Or the desperate gesture of a young man hurt in his skin? Or both? In the aftermath of the stabbing attack carried out at the Dieuze (Moselle) gendarmerie barracks, Matthias R., the alleged perpetrator, has been heard since Tuesday morning by investigators from the Metz judicial police, co- seized with the gendarmes of the research section. Operated overnight after being injured in the abdomen, the 19-year-old soldier is out of danger.

Sources close to the investigation, the assailant was neither known to the intelligence services nor to the justice system. "There are no known elements of radicalization concerning him," explains one of these sources. Without prejudice, there could be a predominant suicidal dimension in his gesture. "

"He lives like a young man his age"

At this stage, the national anti-terrorist prosecutor's office (PNAT) has not taken up the matter and is awaiting the return of the expert opinions of Matthias R.'s computer media and his hearings. Several searches were carried out Monday evening in the suspect's room at the initial training center for non-commissioned members in Dieuze as well as with his relatives in Haute-Loire. No weapons or explosives were found. "He lives like a young man his age," said a policeman. Matthias R. had been in initial military training for two months at the time of the events.

Monday, it is 2.39 pm when the operational center of the gendarmerie receives an alarming call via the 17. The interlocutor explains that he is on the point of committing mass killing in Dieuze and claims to be a terrorist organization Islamic State (EI). Thirty minutes later, Matthias R., dressed in civilian clothes, entered the local brigade with a knife. Then threatens to kill a policeman he meets before jumping on him. The latter, injured in the hand, retorts and shoots the attacker twice.

“I salute the composure, the professionalism and the responsiveness of the gendarmerie forces who intervened to apprehend the author of the attack committed within the barracks of Dieuze. Support for all the gendarmes and their families ”, tweeted the Minister of the Interior Christophe Castaner.