Equipped with a knife and an iron bar, the man threw himself at the police who were responding to a fire breaking out in a synagogue. An official used his weapon to neutralize him.
It is an attack which leaves the Rouennais “shocked”, in the words of the city’s mayor, Nicolas Mayer-Rossignol. This Friday morning, a man tried to burn down the synagogue on rue des Bons Enfants before being shot dead by the police, we learned Le Figaro from consistent sources.
Around 6:50 a.m., a witness alerted the police to smoke emanating from the Norman place of worship. A man climbed onto the roof of the building using a trash can and, after breaking a window, “threw an incendiary element into the synagogue, causing fire and significant damage”specified the mayor of Rouen to the press.
A 29-year-old Algerian under OQTF
Upon arriving on site, firefighters and police officers noted the presence of the suspect, standing on the surrounding wall of the place of worship. “He insults them with what appears to be an iron bar and a knife. The officials try to convince him to come down but he throws them the iron bar which is actually a perforating chisel.detailed the public prosecutor of Rouen, Frédéric Teillet, during a press conference.
The man jumps and rushes towards the officials brandishing a 25-centimeter knife, according to a Source close to the case. The police officer threatened by the assailant retreats and, under threat, uses his weapon five times, four of which directly hit the assailant. Despite the first aid provided by emergency services, the man died on the spot. An autopsy must be performed this Friday afternoon.
The suspect only carried a transport ticket allowing his identity to be established, this must still be confirmed by the investigations entrusted to the zonal direction of the judicial police, underlined the prosecutor. According to our information, he is a 29-year-old Algerian. A Source close to the case adds that he had been subject to an obligation to leave French territory (OQTF) for less than a year, but this was not enforceable because he had initiated an appeal before the administrative courts.
IGPN investigation
Investigations aimed at clarifying the suspect’s motivations are continuing as part of the investigation opened by the Rouen public prosecutor’s office to “arson due to religion” And “intentional violence against persons holding public authority”. A second investigation is being carried out by the General Inspectorate of the National Police (IGPN) into the conditions of use of the weapon by the police officer responsible for the shooting, who was placed in police custody as required by procedure. But already, the video surveillance images “establish that he used it under the conditions permitted by the internal security code”declared the prosecutor, specifying that his police custody would be lifted as soon as his hearing was over.
“Through this attack and this attempted fire on the Rouen synagogue, it is not only the Jewish community that is affected. The whole city is bruised and in shock.”, was moved by the city’s mayor, Nicolas Mayer-Rossignol (PS). For his part, Jonas Haddad, lawyer in Rouen and regional advisor (LR) of Normandy, regretted to the Figaro that such an attack was committed in this neighborhood yet “without incident, secured by numerous video surveillance cameras”. And to add: “Jews could have been burned if there had been a service. We are not far from Saint-Étienne-du-Rouvray, where Father Hamel was assassinated within his church, and everyone is working to ensure that religious communities live in harmony.”
366 anti-Semitic acts in the first three months of the year
This new attack comes as France is hit hard by a wave of anti-Semitism which has continued to grow since the Hamas terrorist attack against Israel on October 7, 2023. During the 38th dinner of the Representative Council of Jewish Institutions of France , in Paris on May 6, the Prime Minister insisted: “No one can deny this anti-Semitic surge. No one can deny the fact that it is estimated that French Jews represent 1% of the French population, but that more than 60% of anti-religious acts are anti-Semitic acts..
On this occasion, the head of government revealed that 366 anti-Jewish acts were recorded in France in the first quarter of 2024, i.e. “an increase of 300% compared to the first three months of 2023”. At the same time, the meetings to combat anti-Semitism, bringing together in the capital leaders of associations and representatives of the main religions, made it possible to confirm the extent of this hatred “ordinary”. In striking videos, victims gave their testimonies: a child recounted that a classmate had refused to share her room because she was Jewish, a young woman recalled the insults she had suffered in the metro, a student also reported being targeted with a Nazi salute.
” data-script=”https://static.lefigaro.fr/widget-video/short-ttl/video/index.js” >
