A Libyan in an irregular situation injured six people, including one seriously, with a punch Wednesday morning at Gare du Nord in Paris before being overpowered by police officers who injured him with their service weapon. The man, born in 2000 and arrived in France three years ago, is under the influence of a Obligation to leave French territory (OQTF) and known to the police for acts of common law, a police source told AFP.
France does not deport to Libya
The French authorities are not deporting to Libya because of the political instability which reigns in this country, torn apart since the fall of Muammar Gaddafi in 2012 by clashes between rival factions, argued with AFP the ministry of Interior. France maintains “no exchange channel for the identification of Libyan nationals”, it was added. The facts took place shortly before 6:45 a.m. in the station, in the heart of the 10th arrondissement of Paris, at a busy hour.
Nothing in the investigation allowed Wednesday evening to evoke a terrorist attack, according to a source familiar with the matter. This hypothesis “is not privileged”, it was commented. The National Anti-Terrorism Prosecutor’s Office (Pnat) told AFP that it was, for the time being, “under evaluation”. An investigation for attempted murder was opened by the Paris prosecutor’s office and entrusted to the judicial police.
Several people injured with a punch
For some unknown reason, the man injured several people with a punch, according to a police source. Police officers overpowered him by using their weapon “three times”, according to Interior Minister Gérald Darmanin, who went there immediately after the attack. In total, six people were injured – five slightly and one seriously – according to the Paris prosecutor’s office. Among them, a police officer from the PAF (Border Police) was slightly injured while trying to control the attacker. The assailant, whose vital prognosis is engaged, was hospitalized, according to the prosecution. He is wounded in the arm and in the lung.
Gérald Darmanin specified that one of the police officers involved was in civilian clothes and off duty. Carrying his weapon as he has the authorization, this agent of the police prefecture (PP) of Paris was returning home. According to a police source, two PAF police officers were on patrol at the level of the access staircase to the Eurostar at the time of the events. One of them tried to surround the attacker who injured him with his punch. His colleague then intervened using his weapon, while the PP policeman, alerted by the noise, immediately arrived and also opened fire on the assailant. As is customary after shooting by the police, the General Inspectorate of the National Police (IGPN) was seized.
A false identity given by the assailant
The identification of the author took time because, without identity papers, he gave a false identity to the police officers who overpowered him. The Minister of the Interior affirmed that he had not formulated anything orally during the attack. Station traffic was not interrupted by the attack. Gérald Darmanin reacted immediately on Twitter by writing: “Thank you to the police for their courageous and effective reaction”, before going to the scene.
An individual injured several people this morning at the Gare du Nord. He was quickly neutralized. Thank you to the police for their effective and courageous response.
— Gérald DARMANIN (@GDarmanin) January 11, 2023
Paris police chief Laurent Nunez, Paris mayor Anne Hidalgo and Paris prosecutor Laure Beccuau also visited the scene. In February 2022, the Gare du Nord had been the scene of a similar scene. A man had rushed with a knife in his hand on the police who had fatally injured him. On the knife was written “ACAB” (“All cops are bastards”, “all cops are bastards”). Gare du Nord is the first station in Europe and the third in the world in terms of traffic. It welcomes 700,000 people a day and more than 220 million visitors a year.