For almost three hours this Saturday, November 16, the son of the manager of a pizzeria located in Hauts-de-Seine, in the Paris region, held four employees hostage. “Liberation” takes stock of this sequestration which was resolved without causing any injuries.
The hostage situation lasted approximately three hours. This Saturday, November 16, just before 1 p.m., the son of the pizzeria manager “The Olivier» rue Ernest Renan in Issy-les-Moulinaux (Hauts-de-Seine) retained four employees of this family restaurant for part of the afternoon.
Armed with a knife and expressing suicidal thoughts, the man was finally arrested around 4 p.m. by BRI agents. The four people detained were released and none were injured. Liberation returns to this sequestration which mobilized a large force of law enforcement not far from the ring road and the Porte de Versailles, in the close suburbs of Paris.
What happened?
It was 12:55 p.m. this Saturday when the authorities announced that a man armed with a knife was holed up inside a restaurant in Issy-les-Moulineaux. It was in a small family pizzeria on rue Ernest Renan, called “L’Olivier”, that he held four people hostage. This large artery in the city center is quickly closed to traffic.
At the start of the afternoon, the town hall of this town of 70,000 inhabitants southwest of Paris calls on residents to “avoid the area”. A police source indicates that the four people held captive are “employees” of the restaurant and there is neither “clientele nor public” in places. Throughout the afternoon, police and emergency vehicles patrol the surrounding streets. Members of the BRI, the research and intervention brigade, helmeted and armed, block access to the street. Two BIS teams are mobilized as well as members of the Paris Fire Brigade.
What is the profile of the hostage taker?
The man in his forties is the son of the pizzeria manager. According to several sources, he suffers from drug addiction and is very unfavorably known to the police.for cases of drugs, contempt, violence and rebellion” pointe The Parisian. According to the daily, which cites police sources, the man contacted his mother this Saturday to tell her that he was in “lack of cocaine». «It was the latter who alerted the police.specifies the newspaper.
A mediator from the BRI (Research and Intervention Brigade, elite unit of the Paris police) was “committed, due to the person concerned’s desire to commit suicide”. Information confirmed by a press release posted at 3:13 p.m. on X by the account of the pizzeria L’Olivier. “Four people are held inside by a man who expresses suicidal thoughts,” states the text, which mentions that the restaurant will be “closed until further notice”.
At the end of the day this Saturday, the Hauts-de-Seine public prosecutor’s office announced the opening of an investigation into arrest, kidnapping and sequestration. The man was placed in police custody in the premises of the judicial police sub-directorate in Nanterre and will be subject to a psychiatric compatibility examination. A mediator from the BRI, an elite unit of the Parisian police, was “committed, due to the person concerned’s desire to commit suicide”.
The investigation will now focus on the causes which led to this hostage taking. According to a police source, this individual had already “committed similar acts” at home in 2022 “with threat” of suicide.
How did the hostage situation end?
The hostages held in this establishment located on rue Ernest Renan were released, all in good health, at 4 p.m. According to several witnesses and journalists on site, two explosions were heard shortly before, followed by several police sirens.
Update : at 5:55 p.m., with new elements.
