Man shot dead by police in Saint-Étienne: what we know

After threatening to attack several passers-by, a man armed with two knives was killed by a municipal police officer Tuesday afternoon.

What happened in Saint-Étienne? This Tuesday, November 26, late in the afternoon, a man was shot dead in the city center, Place Jean-Jaurès, not far from the Christmas market. “Armed with knives, threatening to cause carnage”, in the words of the city's mayor, Gaël Perdriau, the individual was killed by a municipal police officer, France Bleu relays. According to local radio, the man was in possession of two knives.

It all started at Place Jean-Jaurès. The individual initially ran after passers-by, causing panic. Then, he fled to rue Charles de Gaulle. This is where the municipal police would have intervened. While he was near the Loire prefecture, the man allegedly took a passerby hostage, sticking one of his knives under her throat. It was finally while fleeing towards Place Carnot, via the Grand-Rue, near the Grand-Gonnet tram stop, that the individual was allegedly shot. At the origin of the shooting, one of the municipal police officers who tried to arrest him, relates Progress. Injured, the man was treated by the firefighters and the Samu, then transported to the North hospital in Saint-Priest-en-Jarez, where he finally died. The elderly woman taken hostage was slightly injured.

Two investigations have been opened: one concerns the individual and the facts with which he is accused, the other the fatal shooting by the municipal police. Concerning the man with the knives, the Saint-Étienne prosecutor, David Charmatz, has already made it known that the attack did not appear to have a terrorist motive, even if the identity of the individual and his motivations remain to be determined. Praising “the responsiveness, professionalism and composure of the municipal police officers who were the first responders [et] probably saved the life of this woman and undoubtedly others”, the mayor of Saint-Étienne announced that a psychological unit would be set up for the 10 police officers who intervened, as well as for the witnesses of the scene.