DIJON, France, Dec. 21 (UPI) — A day after French police shot dead a knife-wielding assailant, a man attempted to drive into several pedestrians in the French city of Dijon before being apprehended by authorities.
The assailant reportedly yelled, “Allahu akbar” — an Islamic phrase meaning “God is great” — while carrying out the attacks. After attempting to run over 11 pedestrians in at at least a few separate incidents in Dijon Sunday, the man was apprehended by police. Two of the victims were seriously injured.
Saturday, in the city of Joue-les-Tours, a man knocked on the door of a police station. When an officer came to open the door, the man pulled a knife and began to attack the officers inside while screaming “Allahu akbar.”
“He was banging on the fittings [of the door], so the officers opened [the door] to see what he was doing, and he immediately threw himself at my colleagues, stabbing one in the hand, and attacking the second on the neck and face,” Christophe Crepin, a member of the nation’s police union, told France 2 TV.
None of the injuries were life threatening. The attacker, who was shot and killed shortly after initiating the attack, is reported to be in his 20s, a French citizen who was born in Burundi. Investigators are still looking into whether the attack was motivated by Islamic extremism.
COMMENTS
Please let us know if you're having issues with commenting.