Reims: two CHU employees attacked with a knife, the victims in “critical” condition

2023-05-23 04:10:14

A nurse and a medical secretary at the Maison-Blanche hospital in Reims were attacked with a knife by an individual on Monday, at the start of the afternoon. The assailant was arrested in the wake of his attack, in the courtyard of the hospital. The 37-year-old nurse and the 56-year-old medical secretary “are still in extremely critical condition”, the Minister of Health said Monday evening after a visit to the scene of the attack.

The facts took place on the first floor of the hospital, in the premises of preventive medicine, reports the Union. The individual would have first made incoherent remarks, before arming himself with his knife and attacking the two employees, all in front of several witnesses. The victim whose vital prognosis is engaged was transferred to the operating room and undergoes an intervention, still according to the Union.

No apparent motive

A few hours after the attack on the two women, the public prosecutor of Reims Matthieu Bourrette provided details on the profile of the assailant in a press release. “It appears from the first elements of the investigation that the defendant, aged 59, seems to have acted without apparent motive, especially since he did not have an appointment in this service, and was not followed within this service “, can we read. The Minister of Health François Braun, who came to the scene in the evening, assures that the attacker “has a psychiatric history”.

“He was never convicted, but had been indicted in Châlons-en-Champagne for acts of aggravated violence, and had benefited in June 2022 from a dismissal order for criminal irresponsibility”, specifies the prosecutor . He confirms with the Union that the individual has been taken into custody and that an investigation for attempted murder has been opened.

François Braun on site

The Minister of Health and Prevention François Braun reacted on his Twitter account. “I express my deep emotion after the violent attack, at the beginning of the afternoon, of a nurse and a medical secretary at the CHU of Reims”, he writes. Once there, he promised to convene a “committee” for “more safety for caregivers”.

I express my deep emotion after the violent attack, at the beginning of the afternoon, of a nurse and a medical secretary at the @CHUdeReims. To assure the teams of my support and that of my ministry, I will go there this evening.

— François Braun (@FrcsBraun) May 22, 2023