Drunk, armed with a katana and a rifle, the man was going to attack the church of Blanc-Mesnil in Paris

“We avoided carnage”, Say the police officers and witnesses to the scene. Sunday morning around 7 a.m. at Blanc-Mesnil, in Seine-Saint-Denis, a man ran towards revelers and worshipers, armed with a katana and a semi-automatic rifle. The 32-year-old’s motives are still unclear, according to the Parisian. He is currently in police custody after being deliberately hit by a car.

Arrested by the vigil of the evening

The latter, 38, had already spotted the individual at the start of the evening. The assailant, dressed in military fatigues and a balaclava, spent several hours in the bushes, then around 6 a.m. began threatening revelers.

An hour later, when the manager has just closed the establishment, he sees the armed man heading towards the church. Immediately, he climbs into his car and intentionally crashes into the attacker. The man gets up and slashes the hood of the vehicle with his saber. The driver restarted and struck him a second time without injuring him. Once on the ground, he controls it with the help of other passers-by, the police will arrest the man a few after.

The terrorist trail ruled out

During the search of his home in Villemomble, investigators discovered a shotgun and a semi-automatic rifle. An investigation has been opened to identify the provenance of these two undeclared weapons.

Despite these worrying elements, the case was not entrusted to the national anti-terrorism prosecution, because according to the Bobigny prosecution: “We are certain that the detainee has absolutely no terrorist profile. Nothing during the search of his home or in his file points to this lead.”.

The aggressor justifies his “Allahou Akbar”By an advanced state of alcoholism, a bottle of vodka and a tour of the bars of the city would be at the origin of the facts. In fact, two grams of alcohol per liter of blood was circulating in his veins at the time of the attack. However, the psychiatric expertise did not reveal any disorders other than those caused by his alcohol consumption, specifies the prosecution.

The investigation was entrusted to the judicial police of Seine-Saint-Denis. Investigations must determine whether the man had premeditated this attack or if it was entirely due to his alcoholic state.

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