At least two French prison officers have been shot dead after a convoy transporting a Muslim inmate was ambushed by armed men in masks who opened fire indiscriminately.
The attack occurred shortly after 11 a.m. local time at the Incarville tollbooth in Eure, northwest of Paris.
Two vehicles rammed into the prison van, trapping the vehicle, before several men with assault rifles shot at officers, leaving at least two dead and several injured.
There are currently conflicting reports in the French media on whether two or three of the prison officers have died.
The inmate, named in the French press as 30-year-old Mohamed A., was escorted into one of the vehicles by the men who then fled the scene. The vehicles used by the gang included a white Audi A5 and a BMW 5 Series, the former of which was discovered torched not far from the crime scene.
The escapee had been convicted of burglary but was also indicted for attempted homicide and drug trafficking offenses pertaining to a partially burned body found in June 2022 with a bullet in the head.
A police source told Le Parisien that Mohamed A. was the head of a narcotics network in France.
French Justice Minister Éric Dupond-Moretti said that France was “in mourning” following the attack.
He confirmed that at least two men were dead. “One of them leaves a wife and two children who were to celebrate their 21st birthday in two days. The other leaves a woman five months pregnant, parents, and of course, friends,” he said.
“This morning’s attack, which cost the lives of prison administration agents, is a shock for all of us,” said French President Emmanuel Macron
“The nation stands alongside the families, the injured, and their colleagues. Everything is being done to find the perpetrators of this crime so that justice can be done in the name of the French people,” he added.
Over 200 police officers have been mobilized to track down the fugitive and his accomplices, including police helicopters.
The manhunt is ongoing.