French police killed an armed man this morning who was trying to set fire to a synagogue . It happened in Rouen , north of Paris.
«The national police of Rouen neutralized an armed individual early this morning who clearly wanted to set fire to the city's synagogue », the words of the Minister of the Interior, Gerald Darmanin , on X. "I congratulate them for the promptness and courage shown."
According to initial reconstructions, the French agents , who rushed to the scene after reports of smoke coming from the synagogue, were threatened by the man armed with a "knife and a metal bar" . When the attacker then tried to approach the officers, one of them shot and the man died.
In 2016, Rouen had already been the scene of a bloody attack in a church , with five people taken hostage by two men armed with knives and two fake bombs.
The 86-year-old priest had his throat cut in front of the faithful and four other people were injured before the police intervened and killed the attackers.
«Many objects were damaged by the start of the fire, even the walls, everything is blackened», the TV story of the president of the Jewish Community of Rouen, Natacha Ben Haïm.
According to Ben Haim, the attacker "climbed onto a dumpster and from there reached the first floor, where he threw an incendiary object into the synagogue, a kind of Molotov cocktail."
(Unioneonline/vl)