PARIS: A 35-year-old fisherman deliberately ran over five people on Oleron Island in western France on Wednesday, seriously injuring two, authorities confirmed. The incident unfolded over a span of 35 minutes, according to Interior Minister Laurent Nunez, who said the suspect had no record of radicalisation and was not known to intelligence agencies.
Police used a taser to subdue the man after he set his car on fire during his arrest. The suspect, who lived alone in a mobile home on the island, reportedly shouted “God is the greatest” in Arabic when detained. Prosecutor Arnaud Laraize said the man was already known to police for minor offences but stressed that no anti-terror investigation had been launched so far.
President Emmanuel Macron expressed shock over the attack, offering condolences to the victims’ families and vowing that justice would respond “with the utmost firmness.”
Local officials identified one of the gravely injured victims as a 22-year-old woman, reportedly an aide to a lawmaker from the far-right National Rally (RN) party. RN vice-president Sebastien Chenu later cited the incident as an example of the “Islamist threat” facing France.
The attack comes as France prepares to mark ten years since the 2015 Paris terrorist attacks that left 130 dead and only weeks before commemorations of other jihadist assaults, including the 2016 Nice truck attack that killed 86 people.
