June 8 (UPI) — France’s Prime Minister said two adults and four children, including a 22-month-old, were stabbed Thursday during a knife attack in the alpine town of Annecy.
During a press conference, French Prime Minister Élisabeth Borne said some of the wounded children are in a “severe state” in intensive care. She said France is shocked by the stabbings.
A man armed with a knife attacked a group of children in a playground about 9:45 a.m. local time. He then attacked a group of elderly adults.
A witness, former Liverpool football player Anthony Le Tallac, saw the assailant rush toward a group of elderly people stabbing a man twice. He said he yelled to police to shoot the man.
The attacker was shot and arrested.
French President Emmanuel Macron wrote on Twitter the stabbings were an act of “absolute cowardice.”
According to British Foreign Minister James Cleverly, a British national was among the children hurt in the attack.
French Interior Minister Gerald Darmanin tweeted that the attack occurred in a square in the town 350 miles southeast of Paris.
The alleged assailant was arrested, he said, “thanks to the very rapid intervention of the police.” A police source told local media the suspect is a Syrian national.
“Horror again. This attack on children is the height of the abomination,” Laurent Wauquiez, president of Auvergne-Rhône-Alpes, where Annecy is located, said. “I extend my full support to the victims and their families.”
An investigation is underway into the possible motives for the attack
“All my thoughts to the victims families,” he said.
