The police custody of William M., suspected of having killed three Kurds on Friday in Paris, was lifted on Monday morning. He will be presented on Monday to an examining magistrate for an indictment, the Paris prosecutor’s office said in a statement.
Arrested at the scene of the attack, in the tenth arrondissement of Paris, William M. was immediately placed in police custody on Friday. This one had however, was lifted on Saturday for health reasons – before resuming Sunday, at 4:25 p.m. “The doctor who examined the respondent this day at the end of the followingnoon declared that the state of health of the person concerned was not compatible with the in police custody “, had justified the Paris prosecutor’s office. The suspect had thus been “taken to the psychiatric infirmary of the police headquarters. »
A “hatred of foreigners”
Before his release from police custody, William M., 69, had recognized a “hatred of foreigners that had become pathological” since a burglary of which he was the victim in 2016, said Sunday the prosecutor of Paris, Laure Beccuau. “Before committing suicide, I always wanted to murder migrants, foreigners, since this burglary”, he declared in hearing, describing himself as “depressive” and “suicidal”.
While in custody, William M., already arrested for attacking migrants with a saber a year ago, had been talkative regarding his intentions. Early Friday, he went to Saint-Denis (Seine-Saint-Denis) with his weapon, “a Colt 45 automatic pistol”, before giving up on taking action, “given the few people present and because of his dress preventing him from reloading his weapon easily, ”detailed the prosecutor.
It was a few hours later that he went to rue d’Enghien, in the 10th arrondissement, where he knew of the existence of a Kurdish cultural center. He kill three people there. William M. had “intended to use all the ammunition and kill himself with the last bullet”, but was stopped by several people at a nearby barbershop before being arrested by the police, Laure also said. Beccuau.
VIDEO. Attack once morest Kurds in Paris: how the suspect was subdued in a hair salon
He blames “all migrants”
“Indicating to resent to all migrantshe explains that he attacked victims he did not know, specifying that he blames the Kurds for having taken prisoners during their fight once morest Daesh instead of killing them,” said the public prosecutor. Moreover, during the search at his parents’ home, where he lived, nothing made it possible to determine “any link with an extremist ideology”.
What the trail of the terrorist attack was not accepted from the outset aroused anger and incomprehension. “The fact that our associations are targeted is of a terrorist and political nature,” declared Agit Polat, spokesperson for the Kurdish Democratic Council in France (CDK-F). It is in this context that, on Saturday in Paris, a gathering of several thousand people was marred by violence and degradation.
