French justice on Saturday filed preliminary charges for attempted murder against a suspect in the stabbing of four children and two adults in a park in the Alpine town of Annecy, an attack that caused shock inside and outside France.
The suspect is a 31-year-old Syrian refugee, whose name has not been released, with permanent residence in Sweden. The suspect has a 3-year-old daughter and a wife who live in the Nordic country.
The man appeared before the city’s investigating magistrates on Saturday and was charged with attempted murder and armed resistance, the region’s final chief, Line Bonnet-Mathis, explained at a press conference. The suspect is in custody pending the conclusion of the investigation.
According to the prosecutor, the victims are now out of danger after the attack on Thursday in a playground and its surroundings. The minors, between 22 months and 3 years old, remain hospitalized.
The six victims came from four different countries: France, Great Britain, the Netherlands and Portugal.
The man was evaluated by psychiatrists who deemed him fit to face the charges, the prosecutor said, adding that the motive for the savage attack remained unclear but did not appear to be related to terrorism.
Witnesses said they heard the attacker mention having his daughter, his wife and Jesus Christ, said the prosecutor, who said that at the time of the attack he was carrying Christian objects.
Police arrested the suspect at a lakeside park in the city after bystanders, especially a Catholic pilgrim who repeatedly hit the attacker with his backpack, tried to stop him.
The suspect’s profile renewed criticism from conservative and far-right politicians of French immigration policy. But authorities noted that the man entered the country legally due to Swedish residency. Sweden and France are members of the European Union and, therefore, of the zone of free movement of people.
The suspect had applied for asylum in France last year but was denied just days before the attack on the grounds that he was already granted asylum in Sweden in 2013, according to the French interior minister.
