A suspect was taken into custody on Saturday after three young men, including a 16-year-old minor, were stabbed to death overnight Friday to Saturday during a brawl in downtown Angers. The political class on the right denounces the “wildness” of society.
The 32-year-old suspect was arrested overnight, according to the prosecution.
The three young men killed are aged 16, 18 and 20, Angers prosecutor Éric Bouillard told AFP.
The brawl, which took place in three stages, reportedly broke out around 1 a.m. in the city center of Angers and ended shortly before 3 a.m. on the esplanade Cœur de Maine, near the castle of Angers.
“The police intervened for the first time around 1 a.m.” following a call for young girls bothered by the suspect. “But when the police arrived, the man was gone and it was calm,” Bouillard told AFP late Saturday afternoon.
A little later, “he comes back again and he is pushed away quite firmly by members of the group (…) He comes back a third time” towards the group, this time with a knife, continued the magistrate, according to whom ” it is not known” if the three young people killed are those who had previously ousted him. “The altercation is not linked to a disturbance”, as mentioned at first, said the prosecutor.
Called at 2:50 a.m. in the “Coeur de Maine” sector, the police discovered “a large and sometimes aggressive crowd, with projectiles thrown at the intervening services”, Mr. Bouillard had said in a press release in the morning.
“Victim each of a stab wound to the chest”, the three victims were “in cardiorespiratory arrest” when help arrived who could not resuscitate them, according to the magistrate.
“The person designated as being the author of the stab wounds” was first arrested “by people present” on the scene, then suffering “violence before being taken care of by the municipal police and then the emergency services” , according to the prosecutor.
Hospitalized, the suspect was taken into custody but was unable to speak on Saturday morning. The prosecutor clarified on Saturday evening that the suspect “was not seriously injured”, without being able to specify whether he could have been heard during the day.
“Dread and Sadness”
The investigation was entrusted to the police of the departmental security of Angers.
According to Ouest-France, two of the three deceased young people had played, since their 6-7 years and until a year ago, rugby within SCO Rugby d’Angers. Even after their departure, “we often saw them on Saturdays, they came to see the matches,” club president Jean-Benoît Portier told the daily.
Like many members of SCO Rugby, the two rugby players, according to the daily, were from Wallis-and-Futuna, a French overseas community located in the South Pacific.
As for the suspect, according to France Info, he is from Sudan and resides in France in a regular situation after having obtained the status of political refugee.
Questioned by AFP, the prosecutor did not confirm this information relating to the nationalities of the protagonists.
A psychological unit had been set up. The CHU d’Angers announced at the end of the day on Twitter that 23 people were welcomed there during the day.
“Fear and sadness after the brawl in #Angers. My thoughts are with the families of the victims”, reacted on Twitter the former mayor (Horizons) of Angers, Christophe Béchu, who became Minister for the Ecological Transition at the beginning of July and of Territorial Cohesion in the new government of Elisabeth Borne.
Fright and sadness after the brawl in #Angers. My thoughts go out to the families of the victims.
I would like to thank the municipal and national police as well as the firefighters mobilized on site.
The ongoing investigation will determine the circumstances of the facts.
– Christophe Béchu (@ChristopheBechu) July 16, 2022
After the knife attack in Angers, the right is sounding the alarm
After the stabbing death of the three young men, part of the political class expressed their emotion. The right calls on the government to react to what it deems a form of “wildness”.
“Broken families. Fathers and mothers who will never see their children again. What happened yesterday in Angers is a tragedy and I have a heartfelt thought for the relatives of the victims. Until when are we going to let our youth be killed?” tweeted the patroness of the National Rally (RN) deputies Marine Le Pen.
Broken families. Fathers and mothers who will never see their children again. What happened yesterday at #Angers is a tragedy and I have a heartfelt thought for the relatives of the victims. Until when are we going to let our youth be killed?
– Marine Le Pen (@MLP_officiel) July 16, 2022
For the president of RN Jordan Bardella, “no longer a single city in France is spared”. “Everywhere living-in-peace is threatened under the double effect of uncontrolled immigration and a criminal policy inciting chaos. Ensavagery can be fought,” he reacted to the drama, calling for never get used to the unacceptable.
Not a single city in France is spared. Everywhere living in peace is threatened under the double effect of uncontrolled immigration and a criminal policy inciting chaos. Wildness can be fought. Never get used to the unacceptable. #Angers
– Jordan Bardella (@J_Bardella) July 16, 2022
On the side of the party founded by Eric Zemmour, Reconquête!, Marion Maréchal drew a parallel between this attack and other recent events: “Angers, Metz, Amiens, Loriol-sur-Drôme: 4 knife attacks and 5 deaths in 48 hours. “
#AngersMetz, Amiens, Loriol-sur-Drôme: 4 knife attacks and 5 deaths in 48 hours.
Our daughters are being drugged with syringes, our sons are having their throats cut in the street, and the government is looking the other way.— Marion Marshal (@MarionMarechal) July 16, 2022
“Knife attacks are on the increase this summer. A look, inappropriate music, a cigarette – for everything, for nothing, French people are killed. How many bereaved families will it still take for the government to react! ?” Asked the MEP for Reconquest! Nicholas Bay.
Knife attacks are on the rise this summer. A look, inappropriate music, a cigarette – for everything, for nothing, French people are killed.
How many more bereaved families will it take for the government to react!?#Angers
— Nicolas Bay (@NicolasBay_) July 16, 2022