William Molinié, edited by Ugo Pascolo
modified to
5:52 p.m., January 21, 2022
A 39-year-old man, known to the police for common law offenses, was arrested in front of Laon station, in Aisne, when one of his relatives had signaled his intention to attack civilians and police. A knife and a Koran were found in his bag.
Heat stroke for the Laonnois police officers. Since 10 a.m. this morning, according to information from Europe 1, they were looking for a 39-year-old man likely to commit stabbing attacks against police and civilians in the city. Information that had been obtained from a relative of this suspect who told the police that he intended to “kill police and civilians”, before committing suicide.
Psychiatric disorders
This witness also told the police that he suffered from psychiatric disorders and that he had gone to the mosque to pray, a practice he had considered “unusual”. According to our information, this man known to the police for common law offenses but is not known to the intelligence services for radicalization.
This man was finally arrested at the beginning of the afternoon around 2:30 p.m. in the city center of Laon by the police, alerted by a woman who reported by calling “17” that a man with disturbing behavior was in the process of jostling women on the station esplanade. Inside his bag, the police found a Koran and a knife with a 30cm long blade still in its packaging. The man was taken into custody. The prosecution opened an investigation and entrusted it to the judicial police and urban security as a joint referral.