Suspected killer in French school attack 'a loner'
Suspected killer in French school attack 'a loner'
The local prosecutor says the 15-year-old victim suffered 57 stab wounds. Photo: AFP
The schoolboy suspected of brutally stabbing to death a 15-year-old girl at their school in western France was a loner fascinated by Adolf Hitler, but had no clear motive for an attack which shocked the country, the prosecutor said on Friday.
The teenage boy killed the girl in a stabbing spree on Thursday at the private school in Nantes, inflicting 57 knife wounds to her body, mainly to the upper torso, skull and throat, according to prosecutor Antoine Leroy.
The attack prompted new soul-searching in France about teen violence and school security, with the prime minister suggesting metal detectors to prevent future attacks.
Investigators are working to determine the motive of the youth, who also wounded three other pupils in Thursday's attack at the Notre-Dame de Toutes-Aides high school.
The suspect, a teenager in the second year of high school, was arrested but then hospitalised on Thursday evening, rather than being placed in detention, after a psychiatric examination.
The teen is "extremely solitary," fascinated by Nazi leader Adolf Hitler and with "evidently suicidal" tendencies, said prosecutor Antoine Leroy, however adding that "no motive" could be put forward in a "certain manner" at this stage.
Witnesses said teachers overpowered the teenage student – whose identity has not been revealed, but who a fellow pupil also said had expressed an admiration for Adolf Hitler.
The suspect had sent a rambling email about "globalisation" to other students just before the attacks. (AFP)
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
RTHK
13 hours ago
- RTHK
Wrongly deported migrant arrested on return to US
Wrongly deported migrant arrested on return to US Kilmar Abrego García was imprisoned in El Salvador for almost three months before returning to the United States. File photo: AFP Kilmar Abrego Garcia, the man mistakenly deported from Maryland to El Salvador by the Trump administration, has returned to the United States to face criminal charges of transporting illegal immigrants within the US, Attorney General Pam Bondi said on Friday. Abrego Garcia's return marks a turning point in a case that became a broader symbol of criticisms of President Donald Trump's aggressive immigration policies. Critics, including many congressional Democrats, pointed to the case as a sign that the administration was disregarding civil liberties in its push to step up deportations. But the administration insisted that Abrego Garcia was a member of the MS-13 gang, an accusation that his lawyers denied. On Friday, administration officials portrayed the indictment of Abrego Garcia by a grand jury in Tennessee as vindication of their approach – even though the charges were filed on May 21, more than two months after Abrego Garcia's March 15 deportation. At a press conference, Bondi said Salvadoran President Nayib Bukele agreed to return Abrego Garcia to the US after US officials presented his government with an arrest warrant. "The grand jury found that over the past nine years, Abrego Garcia has played a significant role in an alien smuggling ring," Bondi said in a press conference. Abrego Garcia will have the chance to enter a plea in court and contest the charges at trial. If he is convicted, he would be deported to El Salvador after serving his sentence, Bondi said. In a statement, Abrego Garcia's lawyer, Andrew Rossman, said it would now be up to the US judicial system to ensure he received due process. 'Today's action proves what we've known all along — that the administration had the ability to bring him back and just refused to do so," said Rossman. Abrego Garcia was deported to El Salvador, despite an immigration judge's 2019 order granting him protection from deportation to El Salvador after finding he was likely to be persecuted by gangs if returned there, court records show. After his lawyers challenged the basis for his deportation, the US Supreme Court ordered the Trump administration to facilitate Abrego Garcia's return, with liberal Justice Sonia Sotomayor saying the government had cited no basis for what she called his "warrantless arrest.' (Reuters)
RTHK
a day ago
- RTHK
Musk says Trump 'is in the Epstein files'
Musk says Trump 'is in the Epstein files' The tweet by Elon Musk that alleges Donald Trump's link to Jeffrey Epstein. Photo: AFP With one tweet linking Donald Trump with disgraced financier Jeffrey Epstein, Elon Musk reignites a long-running conspiracy theory beloved of the US president's far right supporters. The tech billionaire – who exited his role as a top White House adviser just last week – alleged on Thursday that the Republican leader is featured in secret government files on rich and powerful former Epstein associates. The Trump administration has acknowledged it is reviewing tens of thousands of documents, videos and investigative material that his "Maga" movement says will unmask public figures complicit in Epstein's crimes. "Time to drop the really big bomb: [Trump] is in the Epstein files," Musk posted on his social media platform, X, as a growing feud with the president boiled over into a vicious public spat. "That is the real reason they have not been made public." Supporters on the conspiratorial end of Trump's base allege that Epstein's associates had their roles in his crimes covered up by government officials and others. They point the finger at Democrats and Hollywood celebrities, however, not at Trump himself, and no official source has ever confirmed that the president appears in any of the material. Musk did not reveal which files he was talking about, and offered no evidence for his claim. White House spokeswoman Karoline Leavitt on Thursday called Musk's behaviour "an unfortunate episode" adding the Tesla tycoon is "unhappy with the One Big Beautiful Bill because it does not include the policies he wanted." But the allegation prompted fresh demands for a release of the material – this time from Democrats keen on turning a Maga conspiracy theory back on its proponents. Epstein died by suicide in a New York prison in 2019 after being charged with sex trafficking. Trump has denied spending time on Little Saint James, the private redoubt in the US Virgin Islands where prosecutors alleged Epstein sex trafficked underage girls. The president said ahead of his election last year that he would have "no problem" releasing files related to Epstein. The administration has made public over 63,000 pages tied to the JFK assassination, but Trump has not fully followed through on the Epstein files pledge. The PolitiFact nonprofit investigated Trump's denials and concluded that he had flown on Epstein's jet at least seven times, and noted that the pair attended the same parties in the 1990s. But it also said there was no evidence Trump visited Epstein's island. "Terrific guy," Trump, who was Epstein's neighbour in both Florida and New York, said in an early 2000s profile of Epstein. "He's a lot of fun to be with. It is even said that he likes beautiful women as much as I do, and many of them are on the younger side." One of Epstein's victims, Virginia Giuffre – who died by suicide in April, according to her family – filed a lawsuit saying he had flown her to sexual encounters with royals, politicians and others when she was underage. Lawmakers in the opposition Democrats jumped on Musk's allegation to renew their calls for the release of more detailed files. "I called for the full release of the Epstein Files a month ago because of my suspicion that [Attorney General Pam Bondi] was concealing the files to protect Donald Trump," New York congressman Dan Goldman posted on X. "Now my suspicion has been confirmed." His fellow House Democrat Ted Lieu of California said Musk's accusation had confirmed his own belief that Trump is "all over the Epstein files." "I urge the Department of Justice to release all the Epstein files. What is the Trump administration hiding?" he said. Tim Miller, a former Republican National Committee spokesman turned fierce Trump critic, echoed the call. "The American people deserve to know if our president is a pedophile," he posted on X. (AFP)
HKFP
3 days ago
- HKFP
In Pictures: Hong Kong police deploy armoured vehicle in Causeway Bay on Tiananmen crackdown anniversary
Police have deployed an armoured vehicle in Hong Kong's commercial heart, amidst an ongoing heavy security presence on the 36th anniversary of the Tiananmen Square crackdown. The 'Sabertooth' armoured vehicle was spotted on Great George Street in Causeway Bay on Wednesday afternoon, as groups of uniformed officers patrolled areas near Victoria Park, the former site of annual vigils commemorating the 1989 Tiananmen crackdown in Beijing. Hundreds of police officers have also been deployed in Causeway Bay. Officers – both in uniform and plainclothes – are being stationed in the Causeway Bay MTR station, outside the Sogo department store, as well as in and around Victoria Park. Andrew Kan, deputy police commissioner for national security, made an appearance in Causeway Bay at around 5.05pm and walked around for about 10 minutes. Activist Lui Yuk-lin, nicknamed 'Female Long Hair,' was brought into a police van at 4.28pm, shortly after she exited the Causeway Bay MTR station. She clasped her palms in front of her chest without saying anything. It is unclear whether she was under arrest. In Victoria Park, a man holding an electric candle while sitting on a bench was surrounded by police officers at around 4.30pm. The man, wearing a face mask, a white cap, and dressed in black attire, was later brought to a police van. Police did not say whether he was apprehended. Shortly after 6pm, a woman holding up a small white flower on Great George Street was surrounded by police. They searched her belongings and escorted her away to the MTR station. Two women – including a girl holding flowers and wearing what appeared to be a school uniform – were taken into a police van in Victoria Park. Performance artist Chan Mei-tung appeared in Causeway Bay at around 7.15pm and told reporters that she was going to Victoria Park to swim. She was stopped by police as she was approaching the park in the rain and was taken away in a police van at 7.29pm. On Tuesday, Chan was stopped and searched by plainclothes officers outside Sogo, as she was chewing bubble gum. The Tiananmen crackdown occurred on June 4, 1989, ending months of student-led demonstrations in China. It is estimated that hundreds, perhaps thousands, died when the People's Liberation Army cracked down on protesters in Beijing. Keith Yip, deputy police commissioner of operations, appeared in Victoria Park at around 7.45pm. A man stood silently in the rain at around 8pm. Minutes later, he was escorted by police and taken into a police van. Louis Doucet, head of press and communications at the French Consulate General in Hong Kong, walked through Victoria Park at around 8.20pm. Around 20 minutes later in the park, police questioned a man wearing a white T-shirt featuring a drawing of the Goddess of Democracy and a Chinese slogan saying, 'Vindication of June 4 Comes Closer and Closer,' before taking him into a police van. At around 9 pm, a man wearing a T-shirt saying 'Core Values of Socialism' was taken away by police in Victoria Park. Police did not say whether he was under arrest. He was also taken away during last year's Tiananmen crackdown anniversary. Just before 9 pm, a man wearing a headpiece that read 'Hong Kong Add Oil' in Chinese was stopped by police at the entrance of Fashion Walk in Causeway Bay and later led into a police van. His dog had on a collared decorated with yellow ribbons and the Chinese word for 'persist.' Two female journalists – one working for Yahoo News and the other for local media outlet The Collective – said they were questioned by police after filming an officer shining a flashlight at reporters outside the H&M store on Great George Street. Speaking to the press after being released at around 9pm, the two journalists said they told the police they were reporters. The officers then took down their personal details and press credentials before letting them go. Hong Kong used to be the only place on Chinese soil – besides Macau – where commemoration of the crackdown could be held in public. Tens of thousands of residents gathered annually in Victoria Park in Causeway Bay for candlelight vigils on June 4 every year to mourn the victims. But authorities banned the Tiananmen vigil gathering at Victoria Park for the first time in 2020, citing Covid-19 restrictions, and imposed the ban again in 2021, nearly a year after a national security law imposed by Beijing came into effect. The vigil organiser – Hong Kong Alliance in Support of Patriotic Democratic Movements of China – voted a year later to disband after its former leaders Lee Cheuk-yan, Albert Ho, and Chow Hang-tung were charged with incitement to subversion under the national security law. Chow, who is currently detained pending trial, announced on Sunday that she would launch a 36-hour hunger strike in prison on Wednesday to mark 36 years since the crackdown took place. 'I believe we all will have our own ways to remember the day,' read the post shared by Chow's Patreon account, which is managed by the activist's family and friends. The police set up anti-crash barriers outside the Sogo department store after a blue private vehicle drove onto the pedestrian road. The driver was taken away by the police, and the car was towed. Local media outlet The Collective reported on Wednesday that some police officers were dropped off from a Government Flying Services helicopter at Lion Rock, where banners and signs commemorating the Tiananmen crackdown appeared in previous years. The officers set up camp near the mountaintop, the report read. In an email reply to HKFP's enquiries, the police force said: 'Police will not disclose specific operational details as it may affect the effectiveness of Police's operations.' AsOne Store, a pro-democracy business run by former district councillor Derek Chu in Mong Kok, is distributing commemorative digital candles for free on Wednesday to mark the anniversary of the Tiananmen crackdown. Some candles are wrapped with labels that read 'Tiananmen Mothers,' referring to a group of parents who say their children died during the 1989 crackdown and have since advocated for Beijing to stop treating discussions of the event as taboo. Chu told HKFP on Wednesday afternoon that more than 20 people had gone to the store to get the candles. AsOne also sells candles from another pro-democracy store, Heung Together, which was inspected by Hong Kong customs officers on Tuesday, the eve of the Tiananmen anniversary. 'It is really depressing every day in Hong Kong when you dare not speak up. But on June 4, I see that there are still many people who stand firm in their beliefs. I can still feel the spirit of those who want to safeguard the truth,' Chu said. It is the third consecutive year that the store has displayed candles to commemorate the historic event, after the annual candlelight vigils in Victoria Park were snuffed out. The Tiananmen crackdown occurred on June 4, 1989, ending months of student-led demonstrations in China. It is estimated that hundreds, perhaps thousands, died when the People's Liberation Army cracked down on protesters in Beijing.
