Two senior citizens have been hospitalized in France after being seriously wounded in a stabbing attack at a shopping center.
The incident occurred shortly after 3 p.m. on Saturday in Amboise, central France, when the victims, understood to be a couple, were approached by a knifeman in the Le Paddock cafeteria of the E.Leclerc shopping mall.
According to French media, an altercation ensued between the two 73-year-old victims and the attacker who proceeded to stab them both in the chest.
Employees of the restaurant and the shopping center’s security intervened to prevent further harm from coming to the elderly couple and French authorities were swiftly dispatched to arrest the perpetrator.
The victims were transported to the Trousseau Hospital in nearby Tours where they remain in a critical condition, according to Catherine Sorita-Minard, the Tours public prosecutor.
The attacker has been charged with attempted homicide and remains in police custody. He is understood to have been born in 1969 and was already well known to the police, according to the Amboise mayor, Thierry Boutard.
No further information regarding the attacker has been disclosed.
The investigation into the incident is ongoing.
Born in 1969 in Morocco and of Moroccan nationality, the suspect at this stage admits to the crimes, but gives unclear explanations as to his motive. The motive appears to be a dispute between the suspect and the victims. A priori, the suspect was not under the influence of alcohol at the time of the incident. He may have had a psychiatric record”, explained the magistrate. In addition, the suspect is already known to the law for traffic offences. Last October, he was placed under judicial supervision by the Tours public prosecutor’s office as part of an investigation into threats against his ex-girlfriend. Actu17
“Was already known to the police” Hang him.