Suspect, investigation… What we know about the hostage taking in Issy-les-Moulineaux

A hostage taking took place this Saturday, November 16 in a restaurant in Issy-les-Moulineaux, in Hauts-de-Seine. The four people detained were released, unharmed. The maniac was arrested and taken into police custody.

A hostage situation took place in the restaurant “L'Olivier” in Issy-les-Moulineaux this Saturday, November 16. The four people detained, all employees of the establishment, were released after three hours of captivity and were not injured, consistent sources told BFMTV.

• Four employees retained

The events began around 1 p.m. this Saturday afternoon. The 'man armed with a knife'[était] locked in his father's restaurant” by retaining four employees, the Paris police headquarters had indicated in the afternoon, specifying that there was then “neither customers nor public”.

Dispatched at midday, numerous police vehicles and security forces, helmeted and armed, blocked traffic around rue Ernest Renan to establish a large security perimeter in the neighborhood, located a few dozen meters from the Paris ring road.

The man was arrested around 4 p.m. and the four hostages were released, safe and sound. The prosecution opened an investigation for kidnapping and sequestration, entrusted to the sub-directorate of the Hauts-de-Seine judicial police.

• The suspect suffers from drug addiction

The research and intervention brigade (BRI) had mobilized a mediator for the operation “due to the desire for suicide of the person concerned”. According to our information, the author suffers from drug addiction. He is known to law enforcement but unknown to the courts.

The suspect was arrested and taken into police custody, BFMTV learned from the Nanterre public prosecutor's office. In particular, he will be subject to a psychiatric examination to ensure compatibility with this measure.

His lawyer, contacted by BFMTV, testified that the madman's mental state “had deteriorated recently”. The suspect was known in the neighborhood, local residents say. “Every day we pass in front of the restaurant, we see that he smokes, sometimes drugs,” explained a young man to BFMTV.

• The authorities thank the police

On incident”.

For his part, Bruno Retailleau, the Minister of the Interior, thanked “the BRI and all the forces involved”.