Munzur Balaman, manager of the barber shop where William M. was incapacitated on December 23, said he and his employees had simply “done the task” which was “incumbent on them at that time”.
“We are not heroes, we just accomplished the task that fell to us at that time.” On BFMTV this Sunday, Munzur Balaman, manager of the Kurdish hairdressing salon where William M., the main suspect in the massacre in the rue d’Enghien which killed three people in Paris on December 23, was neutralized, returned to his heroic gesture .
Present on our set with one of his employees, Sinan Yolcu, and one of his clients, Hüsseyin Gök, the three men went into detail on the chronology of the facts which most certainly prevented William M. from claiming more victims.
“At first we heard the gunshots. Looking outside, we saw that there was nothing left. Then an elderly man started to approach. He looked suspicious, but he didn’t. He hadn’t taken out his gun yet. Then he took it out, and we felt like we were already dead,” Hüsseyin Gök said.
The courage of “Mr. Ersan”
Once William M. was present in the living room, the facts quickly followed one another. The employees as well as the customers had only a few moments to find refuge at the bottom of the trade, in the toilets.
“We all went to the back of the living room. But this person came closer and closer. We found ourselves having to jump on him. If we hadn’t, many other much more serious things would happen,” continued Hüsseyin Gök.
It was actually a certain “Mr. Ersan” who first threw himself on William M. to neutralize him. “There were six of us hiding in the toilets. Mr. Ersan was trying to get into the toilets. I told him: ‘you have to stop him, jump on him,’ detailed Munzur Balaman, the manager.
“The first reaction came from Ersan. We then tried to recover the weapon. But we could see that he still had a plan in his head. He wanted to carry out his plan. We managed to control him. But we were also have an obligation to take care of the injured,” said Sinan Yolcu.
“We are forced to resume our lives”
The three men estimate that they then had to wait between 15 and 20 minutes before the police arrived on the scene. Despite this heroic gesture, the owner of the establishment refuses to be presented as a hero.
“Right now, maybe everyone sees us as heroes. But we’re not heroes. We just did the job that was incumbent on us at the time. Anyone would have done the same in our place,” said Munzur Balaman.
Since then, the drama, the hairdressing salon has reopened its doors. “We have resumed activity. We are forced to resume our lives as before,” said Sinan Yolcu.
