Europe 1 with AFP // Photo credit: Thomas SAMSON / AFP
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11:38 a.m., February 3, 2024
Several people were injured with knives and hammers this Saturday morning at Gare de Lyon in Paris in hall 3. According to information from Europe 1, a man of Malian origin, aged around thirty, with an Italian residence permit, was arrested. According to a provisional report from the Paris police headquarters, the attack, which took place around 7:35 a.m., left one seriously injured in the abdomen, with no life-threatening injuries, and two minor injuries. One of the victims is a security guard who tried to disarm the attacker, he was slightly injured and is currently in a state of shock. This report has stabilized, according to two sources, one police and the other close to the case.
“The blows were allegedly carried out with a hammer and a knife – weapons currently being analyzed,” according to the prosecution, which specifies that the suspect was placed in police custody. The sources interviewed by AFP converged to say that the man presented a “homeless profile” without “any sign of religiosity”, but differed as to the presence of psychiatric disorders, with one police source reporting “medication for psychological pathologies”. ” in his possession. The man “was first overpowered by passers-by” before the intervention of Suge, the SNCF railway police, who then handed him over to the police, detailed the police source.
The state of health of the assailant compatible with police custody
“The suspect did not shout during his action,” added a police source. “He presented the police with an Italian driving license,” the same source said, and is legally present on French territory. According to his papers, he was born on January 1, 1992, according to the first source close to the file. A first medical examination made it possible to declare his state of health compatible with police custody, said another source close to the case, according to which he should be the subject of a subsequent psychiatric examination.
“This morning at the Gare de Lyon, an individual injured 3 people with a knife before being arrested. One person was seriously injured. Two others were more lightly injured. They were taken care of by the emergency services . Thank you to those who controlled the author of this unbearable act”, wrote the Minister of the Interior on X, Gérald Darmanin.
This morning at Gare de Lyon, an individual injured 3 people with a knife before being arrested. One person is seriously injured. Two others are more lightly. They were taken care of by the emergency services. Thanks to those who mastered the author of…
— Gérald DARMANIN (@GDarmanin) February 3, 2024
“There is an intervention by the police and emergency services currently in Hall 1 and 3 which makes them temporarily inaccessible”, indicated the SNCF on X. “Traffic is slowed down between Paris Gare de Lyon and Montargis and between Paris Gare de Lyon and Montereau”, she also announced, referring to “an act of malevolence”. A large screen was installed to hide the scene, noted an AFP journalist. More than a dozen law enforcement officers in uniform and others in civilian clothes with orange armbands were also visible. Paris police chief Laurent Nunez went to the scene.
The events took place in hall 3 of the station, located underground, which leads in particular to suburban trains such as the RER A and D and line R which serves the south of Seine-et-Marne. A large screen was installed to conceal the location where the events took place, noted an AFP journalist. More than a dozen law enforcement officers in uniform and others in civilian clothes with orange armbands were also visible. Paris police chief Laurent Nunez went to the scene.
An open investigation
The Paris prosecutor’s office indicated that it had been informed of the facts. An investigation was opened and entrusted to the 2nd district of the judicial police according to a source close to the case. The National Anti-Terrorism Prosecutor’s Office specified for its part that it was under observation.
Gare de Lyon is the leading station in France in terms of main line traffic, ahead of Gare du Nord. It is from here that all the TGV trains leave for the ski resorts during the winter holidays. More than 100 million travelers pass through this station each year, whose lines serve the south-east of the country, the Auvergne-Rhône-Alpes region and Burgundy-Franche-Comté but also Switzerland and Italy.