Suspect Behind Knife Attack Against Police Officer In France Detained - Interior Chief

Fahad Shabbir (@FahadShabbir) Published May 28, 2021 | 05:40 PM

PARIS (UrduPoint News / Sputnik - 28th May, 2021) The suspect behind a stabbing of a French police officer near Nantes has been detained, Interior Minister Gerald Darmanin said on Friday.

"Gendarmes have neutralized an individual suspected of a knife attack on a female municipal police officer in La Chapelle-sur-Erdre," Darmanin tweeted.

The minister said he was on his way to La Chapelle-sur-Erdre, a village in western France.

The suspect attacked the officer inside a police station on Friday morning. French BFM tv reported that the man, who is in his 40s, stole a gun from the officer and tried to flee on foot but was quickly tracked down and fired at the officers.

Two officers were wounded in the hand and in the arm during a shootout. The suspect was critically injured and is being resuscitated.

Le Parisien daily reported that he was on a watchlist for radicalization and was banned from traveling abroad. BFM TV said the suspect was released from prison several months ago where he served years on charges of breaking common law. He was diagnosed with a mental disorder while in jail.

Nantes Mayor Johanna Rolland said on Twitter that she was "shocked by such an abhorrent, unspeakable act." She said she was in contact with La Chapelle-sur-Erdre Mayor Fabrice Roussel, whom she had promised her assistance.