Two girls aged 6 and 11 were slightly injured on Thursday April 18 during a knife attack near their school in Souffelweyersheim, Bas-Rhin. The attacker was arrested shortly after 2:15 p.m. in the square. He no longer had a knife in his hand and let it happen.
The man was born in 1995 and did not “seem to be in possession of all his mental faculties”, according to information from Le Monde. According to the gendarmerie, the man is “not known to the services”, and his motivations “do not seem to be linked to radicalization”.
The 11-year-old girl was stabbed in front of the school, the other was stabbed in a nearby square. Presenting “superficial injuries”, they were hospitalized in a pediatric emergency room. A support unit has been set up by the prefecture.
An open investigation
“The doubts have been resolved by the gendarmerie, the children are safe, there is no longer any danger,” announced the prefect’s chief of staff, Jean-Baptiste Peyrat, on site, inviting parents to recover their children, who had been confined in the establishment.
“Things were done with great professionalism. All plans were implemented, the children were immediately brought to safety,” he assured, specifying that the attacker had not entered the establishment. An investigation was opened, entrusted to the gendarmerie, added Mr. Peyrat.
The children were confined to the school for a time, while several fire and law enforcement vehicles took up positions in front of the establishment.
" I'm really scared. We were reassured, the children are safe inside, but we don’t know when we will be able to get them back,” said Sarah, a mother of a student. “That’s really long. I have a child who is 8 years old, in third grade. A friend called me, she saw the commotion in front of the school as she passed by, the police, she inquired with them. His instinct was to call me so I could pick up my son. »
