Stabbing in France latest: Annecy playground knife attack saw ‘hero’ woman shield children in park

A three-year-old British girl, who was on holiday with her family, was among four toddlers and two adults stabbed to death in a “disgusting and unspeakable” attack at an outdoor playground in France on Thursday.

Witnesses described scenes of panic as screaming mothers tried to protect their children from the attacker rampaging at a lakeside park in Annecy, in the French Alps.

At least one child was stabbed in a stroller despite a woman’s desperate efforts to push them aside.

Video showed the attacker pounding on his victims, shouting “in the name of Jesus Christ.” Police have arrested a suspect who was a 31-year-old Syrian man who came to Europe as a refugee a decade ago.

According to local prosecutors, police have extended the pre-trial detention against the suspect who was being held in Annecy yesterday for the stabbing attack.

Local broadcaster BFM TV quoted a source familiar with the investigation as saying the suspect was “very agitated,” had made incoherent remarks and rolled on the floor several times, but his condition was compatible with police custody.

The young pilgrim who tried to stop the knife attack on Thursday is being hailed across the country as a “backpack hero” and some are calling for him to be awarded France’s highest order of merit, the Legion of Honour.

Dubbed only Henri, the 24-year-old philosophy student came face to face with the attacker while making a month-long pilgrimage to French cathedrals.

“All I know is that I wasn’t there by accident,” he told CNews. “It was unthinkable to do nothing… I followed my instincts and did what I could to protect the vulnerable.”

You can read more details here:

The two adults involved in the attack were both pensioners, French Prime Minister Elisabeth Borne said.

According to the telegraphThe man who was stabbed six times and accidentally shot by police was 78 years old.

Two of the children were in hospital in critical but stable condition this morning, Ms Borne told reporters, while the others were said to have less serious injuries.

One of the two pensioners involved in the attack told Reuters he was sitting on a park bench when the attacker approached while fleeing.

“He probably wanted to create another victim,” said Youssouf, who asked that his family name be kept secret.

According to church authorities, a mass will be held later on Friday at Annecy Cathedral in honor of the victims and their families.

The man, who was stabbed six times and accidentally shot dead by police, is a 78-year-old who is currently in hospital in a life-threatening condition, police said Daily Telegraph.

The stabber was also reportedly shot in the leg.

As the first stop on their visit to the region, French President Emmanuel Macron and his wife Brigitte have arrived at a hospital in the city of Grenoble, where most of the children involved in the attack are being treated.

A total of 69 firefighters were mobilized in response to Thursday’s attack, with the first fire truck arriving four minutes after the alarm was sounded, local fire chief Martial Saddier told BFM TV.

He told the broadcaster that he was driving to Annecy in his car on Thursday morning when he received an emergency message: “Code red, mass killing.”

The young man who tried to stop the knifeman in Thursday’s attack is being hailed as a “backpack hero” in France and is reportedly set to meet President Emmanuel Macron.

Henri, a 24-year-old management and philosophy student, is said to have been a Catholic pilgrim on a tour of cathedrals who came face to face with the man who stabbed several children in a park in Annecy.

Footage shows him trying to fend off the attacker with one of his two backpacks, chasing the man into the playground and throwing one of his bags at the attacker after seeing the stabber attack children in a stroller while their mother trying desperately to shield her.

He is then seen chasing the attacker across the vast expanse of Le Paquier Grassland, dropping one of his backpacks to run faster as the police also begin the pursuit.

So far, most French people only know him by his first name and the only name that is mentioned on his social media. His only public comment so far is the message: “Pray for the children, I’m fine.”

French media called him “heroes in the sack‘, which translates to ‘backpack hero’, and his Facebook and Instagram accounts were flooded with messages thanking him for his actions.

“May God bless you… You did what you could in that moment, you didn’t give up, you didn’t run. You are an angel,” Instagram user Mag Capone wrote on his website.

Psychiatrists are examining the 31-year-old Syrian refugee suspected of carrying out Thursday’s attack, government spokesman Olivier Veran told reporters.

The attacker’s motives were unknown but did not appear to be linked to terrorism, according to lead prosecutor Line Bonnet-Mathis.

He was armed with a jackknife, Ms Bonnet-Mathis said.