On Sunday evening, June 9, after the European elections and while the ballots were being counted, a man entered a polling station in Cholet, Maine-et-Loire, armed with three 20 to 30 cm knives, a police source told Valeurs actuelles. The person shouted ‘Allah Akbar’ three times. According to Ouest-France, he is also said to have made death threats. However, there were no injuries.
Although he managed to leave the crime scene, he was arrested shortly afterwards by the police outside the town hall. The 43-year-old man, who already had a criminal record, had mental health problems and had just been released from hospital. The man was already known to the police because he was carrying a knife. He was taken into police custody.
‘I would like to praise the aplomb and nerve of the municipal police officers who arrested a person carrying three knives on the forecourt of the town hall last night, who had previously tried to enter a polling station,’ said the mayor of Cholet, Gilles Bourdouleix, on X. ‘Fortunately, we were able to prevent the worst,’ he added.