The custody of the second suspect in the chopper attack in Paris on Friday, in front of the former premises of Charlie Hebdo, was lifted around midnight because this man who was near the place of the attack was put "out of cause, "said a judicial source on Saturday.
According to our information, he would have nothing to do with the attack and he even wanted to intervene, according to his lawyer.
According to a source familiar with the matter, his account which "consists in saying that he was a witness, pursued the author and was then threatened, was corroborated by the investigation" in this attack which left two seriously injured in the Premiers Lines agency team.
A new roommate in custody
According to the judicial source, a "former roommate of the main suspect when he resided in a social hotel" in Cergy (Val-d'Oise) was in turn placed in police custody around 11 pm Friday.
This keeps the number of police custody underway on Saturday morning at seven.
The main suspect was arrested by police at Place de la Bastille at midday Friday, an 18-year-old man who was born in Pakistan.
He arrived in France as a minor three years ago.
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Later in the day, five men who were in one of the presumed homes of the main suspect, in Pantin (Seine-Saint-Denis), were arrested.
Two presumed homes of the main suspect were indeed searched, that of Cergy and that of Pantin.
"Obviously this is an act of Islamist terrorism"
The attack comes in the midst of the trial of the murderous attack which targeted the satirical weekly in January 2015. The national anti-terrorism prosecutor's office (Pnat) has been investigated for "attempted murder in connection with a terrorist enterprise" , entrusted to the criminal brigade and the General Directorate of Internal Security (DGSI).
"Obviously this is an act of Islamist terrorism," said the Minister of the Interior Gerald Darmanin on France 2, deploring "a new bloody attack against our country".
VIDEO. Attack near former Charlie Hebdo premises: 2 victims, 2 suspects arrested and wounds rekindled
Since the wave of unprecedented jihadist attacks that began in 2015 in France and which left 258 dead, several have been perpetrated with knives, in particular at the Paris police headquarters in October 2019 or in Romans-sur-Isère ( Drôme) last April.