2023 Annecy stabbing
LocationAnnecy, Haute-Savoie, France
Date8 June 2023 (2023-06-08)
Attack type
Mass stabbing
Deaths0
Injured7 (including the perpetrator)
MotiveUnknown
AccusedAbdalmasih Hanoun

On 8 June 2023, a Syrian man injured two adults and four young children in Le Pâquier city park, Annecy, Haute-Savoie, France, in a mass stabbing attack.[1][2] The suspected assailant was arrested by police minutes after the attack.

Attack

At around 9:45 am CEST, a man dressed in black clothing and a keffiyeh, carrying a knife around ten cm long,[3] entered a children's playground in the city park Le Pâquier.

The suspect reportedly shouted "in the name of Jesus Christ" during the attack,[4] although local police later stated that the attack had no terrorist motive.[5] The assailant was arrested by armed police after shots were fired at him. One of the victims, an elderly man, was injured in the shooting.[6]

Accused

The accused was identified as Abdalmasih Hanoun,[7] a homeless[8] 31-year-old[9] Syrian refugee under the asylum of Sweden. He had previously applied for asylum in France,[10] but was denied due to having asylum of another EU state. At the time of application, he had lived in Sweden for ten years, gaining asylum status in April 2023.[3] Prior to the attack, the accused had neither a psychiatric nor a criminal record.[11]

In a press conference on the day of the attack, French Prime Minister Élisabeth Borne stated that the accused had a child around the same age as the children he allegedly attacked. He is married to a Syrian woman who is a naturalised Swedish citizen; he had separated from her around eight months earlier. Both the accused and his partner had been studying to become nurses.[12] According to his unnamed wife, he had left Sweden soon after being refused Swedish citizenship, and had been living in a church in France.[3]

According to Hanoun's mother, who spoke in more detail to Agence France-Presse,[13] at the beginning of the civil war in Syria, in 2011, her son illegally entered Turkey, where he met his future wife who is also from Syria. The couple then travelled to Greece before settling in Sweden and lived under the same roof for ten years. In 2013 he was granted refugee status and married his partner, who acquired Swedish citizenship. Together they had a daughter, who is now three years old. She said her son suffers from severe depression and claimed to AFP, the refusal of the Swedish authorities to grant him citizenship appears to have "driven him crazy". She also said her former daughter-in-law had said Hanoun was depressed. "He applied for nationality but was rejected," presumably because he had served in the Syrian military, she said, adding "That probably drove him mad."[14]

Victims

Six people, two adults and four children, were attacked. The children's ages ranged from 22 months to 3 years.[15] At least two children and one adult were in critical condition after being stabbed,[16] and were flown to hospitals in Geneva. Both wounded adults are believed to be elderly men,[12] aged 78 and 70.

According to Foreign Secretary of the United Kingdom James Cleverly, one of the children was a three-year-old British national on holiday in Annecy.[17] Another of the children was a Dutch girl.[3] The other two were French.

Responses

A minute of silence was held in the French Parliament to honour the victims of the attack.[18] Prime Minister Élisabeth Borne travelled to Annecy with the Minister of the Interior Gérald Darmanin.[19] British consulate workers were dispatched to Annecy to assist the family of the stabbed British girl.[20]

References

  1. ↑ "Annecy: Syrian refugee in playground attack denied French asylum, says minister". Evening standard. Retrieved 8 June 2023.
  2. ↑ "France attack: What do we know about the Annecy knife attacker?". Sky News. Retrieved 8 June 2023.
  3. 1 2 3 4 (unnamed) (8 June 2023). "Four children wounded in knife attack in French Alps". France 24. Retrieved 8 June 2023.
  4. ↑ "France 'in shock' after knife attack on children in the Alps". POLITICO. 8 June 2023. Retrieved 8 June 2023.
  5. ↑ "France knife attacker did not have 'terrorist motive'". 8 June 2023.
  6. ↑ "Four kids under five 'savagely attacked' in French Alps stabbing". www.9news.com.au. 9 June 2023. Retrieved 8 June 2023.
  7. ↑ "Attaque au couteau à Annecy : plusieurs blessés, dont des enfants en bas âge, le suspect interpellé". CNEWS (in French). 8 June 2023. Retrieved 8 June 2023.
  8. ↑ Breeden, Aurelien (8 June 2023). "4 Children and 2 Adults Are Stabbed in an Attack in France". The New York Times. ISSN 0362-4331. Retrieved 8 June 2023.
  9. ↑ Tétrault-Farber, Gabrielle (8 June 2023). "France stabbing: Four children wounded in Annecy knife attack". Reuters. Retrieved 8 June 2023.
  10. ↑ Briscoe, Radina Gigova, Xiaofei Xu, Oliver (8 June 2023). "Children among six injured in knife attack in southeast France, officials say". CNN. Retrieved 8 June 2023.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: multiple names: authors list (link)
  11. ↑ "France stabbing attack leaves several children seriously wounded in Annecy, in the French Alps". www.cbsnews.com. 8 June 2023. Retrieved 8 June 2023.
  12. 1 2 "France attack: What do we know about the Annecy knife attacker?". Sky News. Retrieved 8 June 2023.
  13. ↑ "France: The 32-year-old Syrian who stabbed children in Annecy passed through Greece". greekcitytimes.com.
  14. ↑ "Refugee who went on knife rampage in France shouted, 'In the name of Jesus!'". New York Post. 9 June 2023.
  15. ↑ Chrisafis, Angelique; Topping, Alexandra (8 June 2023). "Four children and two adults injured in knife attack in French Alps". The Guardian. ISSN 0261-3077. Retrieved 8 June 2023.
  16. ↑ "4 children stabbed in knife attack in France". NBC News. 8 June 2023. Retrieved 8 June 2023.
  17. ↑ Chrisafis, Angelique; Topping, Alexandra (8 June 2023). "Four children and two adults injured in knife attack in French Alps". The Guardian. ISSN 0261-3077. Retrieved 8 June 2023.
  18. ↑ Breeden, Aurelien (8 June 2023). "4 Children and 2 Adults Are Stabbed in an Attack in France". The New York Times. ISSN 0362-4331. Retrieved 8 June 2023.
  19. ↑ "France stabbing: Children attacked in Annecy park in stable condition". BBC News. 8 June 2023. Retrieved 10 June 2023.
  20. ↑ McLoughlin, Bill (8 June 2023). "Annecy stabbing: British girl one of four children stabbed by Syrian asylum seeker". Evening Standard. Retrieved 8 June 2023.
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