Two police officers were killed in an attack on a prisoner transport in northern France. The prisoner escaped with the attackers, French media report. Now details about the victims are becoming known. The refugee’s mother also speaks.
Two prison officers (52, 34) were killed in an attack on a prison transport in northern France. There was previously talk of three dead police officers.
The prisoner escaped with the attackers, several media outlets reported unanimously on Tuesday. Three officers were injured and two were still in mortal danger late Tuesday afternoon.
New details about the deaths will be known on Wednesday. The 52-year-old victim had been working in the prison in Caen for 28 years. He is the father of twins, the two girls are 20 years old. The other victim is married and his wife is expecting a child in a few months.
The prisoner transporter was attacked and shot at at a toll booth in the Eure region on Tuesday morning. The prisoner is said to be nicknamed “La Mouche” (German: The Fly). Le Parisien reports that he was in prison for murder and burglary. According to the report, the man is said to be the head of a drug network and is considered extremely dangerous. Two days ago he is said to have tried to saw through the bars of his cell and was subsequently placed in solitary confinement.
After the shelling, he was able to escape with the four attackers. The 30-year-old was previously sentenced to 18 months in prison for burglary. He is also accused of intentional homicide in another case. According to media reports, he has contacts in the drug community. On Tuesday afternoon, a police helicopter and several hundred police officers searched the area.
The route of the transport that was supposed to transfer the prisoner from Rouen to Evreux to another prison was secret. A police helicopter is currently searching the area. The road was closed indefinitely at junction 4 “Louviers Centre”.
On Tuesday afternoon, the mother of the escaped prisoner spoke to the French broadcaster “RTL”. And he was shocked: “I broke down, I cried – I felt so bad – how can you lose life like that?”
She explained that her son wouldn’t talk to her, even though she had visited him several times – and criticized the French justice system for “dragging him around left, right and centre”. And further: “They isolated him instead of condemning him once and for all.”
“All my thoughts are with the victims, their families and their colleagues,” wrote Justice Minister Éric Dupond-Moretti on X.
Dupond-Moretti went on to say that everything would be done to find the perpetrators. “They will be arrested, they will be tried and they will be punished according to the crime they committed.”
Emmanuel Macron also reported on The nation stands with the families, the injured and their colleagues. We will be intransigent,” said the French president.