Marseille suspect was released from custody day before attack - Guardian

Marseille suspect was released from custody day before attack

Man who stabbed two women outside train station had been detained for suspected shoplifting, official says.

Associated Press in Paris

Monday 2 October 2017 20.59 AEDT

A man who fatally stabbed two women outside the main train station in Marseille had been detained for shoplifting and released the day before the attack and used multiple fake identities in a series of previous arrests, officials have said.

French authorities are studying the suspect’s mobile phone and working to determine whether he had accomplices or direct links to Islamic State, which claimed responsibility for Sunday’s stabbing. The assailant was killed by soldiers after the attack, the latest of several targeting France.

The suspect was identified by his fingerprints, which matched those taken during previous arrests, according to two police officials. He was not on France’s extremist watchlist, according to the officials, who were not authorised to be named when discussing an ongoing investigation.

The man did not appear to have French residency papers and was detained for suspected shoplifting at a department store in the Lyon region on Saturday before being released, according to Yves Lefebvre, a police union official.

Lefebvre, of the Unite SGP police union, said while it might shock the public that the suspect was released the day before carrying out the attack it did not shock police.

He said shoplifting usually results in a quick police report and a court summons for a later date, and the suspect is released.

“Nothing allowed us to suspect there was a threat of radicalisation during the [Lyon] arrest,” he told the Associated Press.

Man shot dead by French army after killing two people at Marseille train station

He said the man used multiple pseudonyms and identity papers, making it difficult to determine his true identity or even to find a house to search. He said authorities hoped an iPhone found on the suspect would give clues to his true identity and motives.

The victims were cousins between 17 and 21 years old, according to three police and judicial officials. It is unclear if they had any link to the attacker.

Authorities have opened a terrorism investigation. The Paris prosecutor is giving a news conference about the attack later on Monday.

The interior minister, Gérard Collomb, said police had video footage that shows the man attacking a woman and running away, then coming back and attacking a second woman. Some witnesses reported hearing the assailant shout “Allahu Skbar!” – Arabic for “God is great” – Collomb said.

The Isis-linked Aamaq news agency said the assailant was acting in response to the extremist group’s calls to target countries in the US-led coalition fighting militants in Syria and Iraq. France has been part of the anti-Isis coalition since 2014. The Aamaq statement did not provide evidence of a direct link to the attacker and it is unclear if the claim is merely opportunistic.

Saint-Charles station in Marseille reopened as usual on Monday. Last month, four American college students were attacked with acid at the same station. French authorities said the female assailant who doused the four Boston College students was suffering from mental illness.