In his bag, a 30 cm long knife blade and a Koran.
In his mind, the desire to end it but, before that, to “kill police and civilians”.
A man was arrested in front of Laon station (Aisne) this Saturday at the start of the afternoon, when one of his relatives had signaled his intention to attack civilians and the police.
He was placed in police custody, according to our colleagues from Europe 1 who reveal the information.
The police had been on his trail "since 10 a.m. this morning," the radio channel said on its website.
This 39-year-old man, known to the police for common law offenses, was likely to commit knife attacks according to a relative - his brother, according to BFMTV - who gave the alert, indicating that the suspect suffers from psychiatric disorders .
The crucial report of a passerby
The motivations of the individual remain unclear, but the hypothesis of a sudden radicalization could come to weigh down this file.
The suspect's relative told police that he had gone to the mosque to pray, a practice he said was "unusual".
According to Europe 1, the suspect was not known to the police for acts of radicalization.
At the start of the afternoon, a woman called the police to report the disturbing behavior of this man, who was "jostling women on the station esplanade", according to Europe 1. She thus facilitated, without knowing it, the police search started hours earlier.
An investigation has been opened, carried out by the judicial police and urban security, indicate our colleagues.
