A suspect shot by police after a horrific beheading of a history teacher in an attack near Paris was an 18-year-old Moscow-born Chechen refugee, officials said Saturday.
France’s anti-terrorism prosecutor’s office said authorities investigating the murder of Samuel Petty at the Conference-Saint-Onrરિn on Friday also arrested nine suspects, including the teen’s grandfather, parents and 17-year-old brother.
Police officials said Patty had discussed with his class about the strategies of Islam’s Prophet Mohammed, which led to threats and parental complaints, police officials said. Islam prohibits images of prophets, insisting they lead to idolatry. The names of the officers could not be ascertained as they are not authorized to discuss the ongoing investigation.
Jean-Franકોois Ricard, the French anti-terrorism prosecutor, said an investigation into the murder had been opened with suspected terrorist intent.
The suspect, who was granted a 10-year residency in France as a refugee in March and was not known to the intelligence services, was armed with a knife and an airsoft gun, which fired plastic bullets, Ricard told reporters.
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The plaintiff said a text claiming responsibility and a photo of the victim were found on the suspect’s phone. Ricard said the suspect was seen asking students about the teacher, and the headmaster received several threatening phone calls.
French leaders gave messages of tragedy but also messages of hope after the assassination.
“Thanks to our spirit of unity, we will choose ourselves together,” said Mayor La La Rent Bros.
“We are all moved and touched by this heinous murder,” Education Minister Jean-Michel Blankware said in a video message.
“I’m a teacher.” The mourners marched near the school in solidarity with such signs.
A police official said the suspect was shot about 600 meters (yards) from where Patty died. Failing to respond to the order to put down the weapon, the police threatened and behaved threateningly. The name of the officer could not be ascertained due to ongoing investigation.
French President Emmanuel Macron went to the school on Friday night to condemn what he called an “Islamist terrorist attack.” He urged the nation to stand united against extremism.
“One of our compatriots was killed today because he taught … freedom of expression, freedom of belief or belief,” Macron said.
President Elysee Palace announced on Saturday that a national ceremony would be held at a future date to pay tribute to Patti, about whom little details have yet come out.
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In a video recently posted on Twitter, a man describing himself as the student’s father said Patty showed him an image of a naked man and told students he was “a prophet of Muslims.”
Before showing these pictures, the teacher asked the Muslim children to shake hands and leave the room because he planned to show something shocking, the person said. “What was the message he wanted to send this message? What is this hate?” The man asked. The AP is not able to independently confirm these claims.
Chechnya is a predominantly Muslim Russian republic in the North Caucasus. Two wars in the 1990s triggered a wave of migration, with many Chechens migrating to Western Europe. France has offered asylum to many Chechens since the Russian military launched a war against Islamist separatists in Chechnya in the 1990s and early 2000s.
France has seen occasional violence involving the Chechen community in the months leading up to what is believed to be associated with local criminal activities and score-settlement.
This is the second time in three weeks that terror has erupted in France, associated with the consonant of the Prophet Mohammed. Last month, a Pakistani youth was arrested after attacking two people with a meat cleaver outside the former office of the satirical newspaper Charlie Hebdo.
Weekly was the target of a deadly newsroom attack in 2015, and it re-published the Prophet’s strategies this month, which could emphasize the right to freedom of information since the trial attached to that attack was opened.
Friday’s terror attack comes as Moron Crown’s government is working on a bill to address Islamic fundamentalists, who officials claim create a parallel society outside the values of the French Republic.
