Officials have revealed that the four young children who were stabbed in a park in Annecy, France, are now in a stable condition.
The children, aged between one and three, are currently receiving treatment at a hospital.
The knifeman was apprehended by police after entering a children’s playground to carry out the attack. Among the injured are a three-year-old British child and another child of Dutch nationality. Two adults were also harmed, with one in critical condition.
According to police, the suspect is a 31-year-old Syrian who had refugee status in Sweden.
Regional deputy Antoine Armand condemned the attack as “abominable” and stated that authorities had limited information as they launched an investigation.
In a graphic video shared on social media, the assault is captured in a playground where children and their caregivers are present. Suddenly, a man wielding a knife enters, prompting immediate screams. He specifically targets children, including one in a pushchair.
French Prime Minister Élisabeth Borne and Interior Minister Gérald Darmanin visited the scene of the attack.
During a news conference, Ms. Borne stated that the attacker had “no criminal or psychiatric record.”
Annecy prosecutor Line Bonnet-Mathis informed reporters that the young victims ranged from 22 months to three years old. She added that there appears to be no indication of a terrorist motive.
The suspect, who has refugee status in Sweden and recently arrived in France, left behind a wife and a three-year-old daughter. In an unsuccessful asylum application last year in France, he claimed to be a Syrian Christian.
During the incident, the attacker invoked the name of Jesus Christ.
A woman identified as the suspect’s ex-wife, speaking to BFM TV, affirmed that her former partner was a Christian.
“He does not call me for four months. [Our relationship] stopped because we lived in Sweden and he did not want to live in Sweden anymore,” she said, adding that he had not previously shown a violent streak.
In recent years, France has become accustomed to knife attacks, often carried out by solitary young men with backgrounds in petty crime and some Islamist connection. It is clear that this attack is of a different nature.
So far, most politicians are being careful not to leap to conclusions, but it is inevitable that the attack will feed into the debate on immigration.