In the aftermath of the knife attack in Villejuif, customers and regulars of the Carrefour resumed their habits

Two days after the knife attack that left one dead and two wounded on the border between the cities of Villejuif and Haÿ-les-Roses, in Val-de-Marne, life resumes its course at the Carrefour shopping center , near where the assailant was shot dead by police on Friday mid-afternoon. He had left the Hautes Bruyères park, in Villejuif, knife in hand, to head for the Carrefour shopping center, located in Haÿ-les-Roses. He was shot early in the afternoon by nearby police.

“Don’t give in to fear”

This Saturday, locals and regular customers came to the store as usual. The day before, however, many police vans and fire trucks were on site, store customers confined inside for hours.

Coming is a way of continuing to live normally for them. “We continue”, comments Vanessa, in her thirties, cart in hand. “It is unfortunate but it is life”. A little further, a couple living in Villejuif are still on their guard. “I look a little to the left, to the right, maybe there is someone else,” distrusts the husband. “There are imbalances everywhere, people are right to be afraid, because we don’t expect it, we walk in the street quietly and then there is an imbalance which rushes towards us, it’s normal “, summarizes his wife, “But _don’t give in to fear_“.

Life must continue. Do your shopping, normally. Nelson, who lives in Cachan, shopping bag in hand, wants to stay positive. “It’s true that it’s a bit weird because we have talked a lot about this matter on the news. We think about it a little bit but we must not dramatize otherwise we do nothing more”. For him, “it even becomes routine” this kind of attack.

A normal Saturday at the mall

The routine also of a normal Saturday in this Carrefour shopping center, wedged between the two municipalities of Val-de-Marne. The parking lot is full, there is no special security device. But employees are still marked by this attack.

One of these employees, who works in accounting, says that she was in the store that afternoon. She did not sleep through the night, with the images of this important police device in her head. This employee lives alone, close to the Carrefour and has not managed to forget this event. It was normally a rest day for her this Saturday but she wanted to go see her colleagues to reassure herself. “It’s nice to see that customers haven’t shunned the store today”, she said, even if, according to one of her colleagues, it is less full than usual. We see her leave again sounded.

Life therefore resumes its course here. The investigation continues to try to see more clearly, in this case. The prosecutor of the Republic of Créteil spoke this Saturday late afternoon. The assailant was in particular followed by a psychiatrist since his 5 years and had stopped treatment six months ago. He also showed signs of radicalization, which have yet to be investigated, according to the prosecutor.

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