Stabbing attack, gas explosion, Raid intervention: eventful night for the police in a town located east of Metz.
The man who took refuge in his apartment in the town of L’Hôpital (Moselle) after slightly injuring a person and who reportedly suffers from a psychiatric pathology “heavy”, was subdued by the Raid and “hospitalized”we learned on Saturday from the mayor.
The man, who had taken refuge on Friday evening, “was arrested without difficulty by the Raid”the elite unit of the national police dispatched to the site, around 11:45 p.m., indicated Emmanuel Schuler, confirming information from the regional daily Le Républicain Lorrain.
Born in 1983, he suffered from a psychiatric pathology.heavy” and was “automatically hospitalized“, added the mayor of this town of around 5,400 inhabitants, east of Metz.
He had lightly stabbed a man in the back who came to bring him food, Mr. Schuler said.
The police were then called and it was from there that he took refuge in his apartment, on the first floor of an HLM building in the center of L’Hôpital, he added. .
He then caused a gas explosion which started a fire in his apartment, leaving him unharmed, Mr. Schuler continued.
The Republican Lorrain had mentioned “a big explosion” making it fly”in pieces” the shutters of the house. A security perimeter has been established” and “the gas was cut off“, according to the newspaper.
The fire “was quickly brought under control by the fire and rescue service“, the prefecture told AFP.
The blast threw glass debris “tens of meters away,” according to Mr. Schuler.
The building was evacuated and its occupants accommodated in a gymnasium. Most were able to return to their homes after the arrest, the mayor said.
The man was “clearly in crisis“, explained a police Source. “Apart from the initial injured“, there is “no other people affected“, we added.
According to Le Républicain Lorrain, he is schizophrenic and has been sentenced several times to prison terms.
“He was known to the police and the justice system“, confirmed Mr. Schuler.
“In July 2020, (he) disfigured with a chopper an 18-year-old young man who refused him a cigarette“, writes the newspaper.
He is also “known to the residents of the building for having repeatedly damaged property belonging to others”according to the Republican Lorrain.
“The police intervened at his home last year, he fought with several officers“, injuring one, and had been “sentenced to one year in prison, from which he was released“three weeks ago“, said Mr. Schuler.
