In Rouen, a man tried to set fire to the city’s synagogue this Friday morning.
Armed with a knife, he was shot dead by the police.
The rabbi’s wife, present at the time of the events, agreed to testify for TF1’s 8 p.m.
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WEEKENDS 8 p.m.
Hundreds of Rouen residents gathered in silence in front of the town hall, after the fire at the synagogue this Friday morning. Inside the place of worship, walls are charred, and a lectern blackened by smoke, as seen in the 20H report at the top of this article. The Torah scrolls, very close to the start of the fire, were saved from the flames at the last minute. “We had a great miracle, the books of the Torah, the sacred books (…) were not touched”declared Natacha Ben Haïm, the president of the Jewish community of Rouen.
It’s shocking and it’s disturbing, but we will continue to live as we should
Wife of the rabbi of Rouen
It was the rabbi’s wife who opened the door to the firefighters. She agreed to testify for TF1, with her face hidden, for her safety. “Suddenly we hear someone screaming, gunshots”she says, “When I found out he was such a murderer, it gave us a pit in our stomachs”. “It’s shocking and it’s disturbing, but we will continue to live as we should”she assures.
Asylum application rejected
At 6:45 a.m., the police spotted on video surveillance a man trying to start a fire. When they arrived, after throwing an iron bar at them, the suspect rushed at them, armed with a knife. One of the officers fired five shots, hitting the 24-year-old man four times. Originally from Algeria, he was subject to an obligation to leave the territory (OQTF) after the refusal of his request for asylum for medical reasons, as specified by the Minister of the Interior on site in the afternoon. However, he was not on the S file, and was unknown to the police.
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Every day since last month, police officers have tirelessly monitored places of worship. An essential protection, underlines Élie Korchia, president of the Central Israelite Consistory of France. “We are and we will remain vigilant”did he declare, “particularly in this period, because we know well that there are people who carry hatred of others”. The police officer who fired the shot will be decorated, announced Gérald Darmanin.
