According to the latest reports, at least four children and two adults were injured. knife attack which took place in a park near Lake Annecy in the southeast France.

The 32-year-old alleged assailant did not hesitate to stab even an infant in a stroller, and the released video shows him walking away shortly before being arrested. Three victims are in critical condition.

Six people, including four children, have been injured in a knife attack in the French Alps.
https://t.co/o1j6KgjcwU pic.twitter.com/T9ZR0aLk3V

— FRANCE 24 — Hacking (@BreakingF24) June 8, 2023

The second adult included in the report was slightly wounded by shrapnel when the officer engaged the attacker.

“He was screaming and targeting babies. There were a lot of adults around, but they didn’t mind. When he realized that he was in a trap, he attacked the old man. Then the policemen shot him in the arm,” said an eyewitness.

“He jumped (into the playground), started screaming, and then went towards the strollers, stabbing the children several times,” said an eyewitness, identified by BFM TV as Ferdinand.

According to a witness who spoke to France Bleu, the alleged assailant was in the area for two months. “This person has definitely been in Pacquier for about two months. He was there every day, from morning to evening. We noticed him because he was constantly all alone, ”said a witness to the incident on the air of local radio. According to the BFM, he did not suffer from psychological problems.

Syrian refugee

In an asylum application he submitted to French authorities in November, the 32-year-old declared himself a “Christian from Syria”.

According to French media, the man entered France legally and in November 2022 applied for asylum at the Ofpra (French Office for the Protection of Refugees and Stateless Persons) in Grenoble. The application was rejected on 4 June.

According to a source familiar with the case, Abdalmasih H. was in Sweden for ten years before leaving for France, where he married a Swedish woman, and they had a child who turned three today. There, in 2022, he was granted political refugee status.

According to the information, at the time of the incident, the criminal was wearing a Christian cross.

The reaction of the political world

Emmanuel Macron spoke of an act of absolute cowardice. The post says that “children and adults are between life and death, and the country is in a state of shock.”

Interior Minister Gerald Darmanen tweeted that the attacker was “arrested due to the prompt response of the security forces.”

In Paris, lawmakers have suspended debates to honor the memory of the victims with a moment of silence, according to BFMTV.

Prime Minister Elisabeth Born and Minister of the Interior Gerald Darmanen arrived at the scene of the attack.