A Syrian refugee who stabbed six people, including four children, in Annecy Park in eastern France has been charged with attempted murder, a local prosecutor said on Saturday, adding that the victims were not in danger.

The motives of the man placed in pre-trial detention after the attack on Thursday (8), which shook the whole country, are still unknown.

Prosecutor Lyn Bonnet said during a press conference about a Syrian refugee who stabbed 6 people to death in Annecy Park, France – Photo: JEAN-PHILIPPE XIAZEK/AFP

At a press conference, Annecy prosecutor Line Bonnet-Mathis said that Abdalmasih H. “did not want to talk” either during the first 48 hours of his arrest or in front of two investigating judges.

On Friday, the accused underwent a psychiatric examination, which determined that his condition was “compatible” with detention. However, the prosecutor said it was premature to comment on her diagnosis or rule out a psychiatric pathology.

According to Bonnet-Mathis, the lives of the victims of this attack in a quiet lakeside town are no longer in danger. The incident injured four children aged 22 to 36 months and two adults.

After the arrest, the 31-year-old assailant did not give any explanation and “prevented his detention” by throwing himself on the ground.

refugee madness

“Madness is too easy an excuse. It is important that it be known that he is being listened to and that he is not being treated simply as nonsense,” Interior Minister Gérald Darmanin said on Friday.

“Of course, there is a motivation that investigators will try to understand,” he told broadcaster BFMTV.

“The investigation is ongoing,” in particular, to “establish his identity, his biography and what he has been doing since he arrived in France,” a source close to the investigation said.

After the attack became known, far-right opposition leaders criticized “mass immigration”, with some referring to “radical Islam” and “terrorism”.

Later it became known that the attacker was a Christian and that the prosecutor’s office ruled out an act with “terrorist motivation”.

“We Can’t Get Used”

On Friday, French President Emmanuel Macron, accompanied by his wife Brigitte, went to Annecy, from where he reported “positive news” about the condition of the wounded.

Macron and his wife met in the morning with medical workers and the families of three injured children who have been hospitalized at a center in Grenoble, about 100 kilometers from Annecy.

Another underage victim, a Dutch girl who was hospitalized in Geneva, Switzerland, is “out of danger”, according to the Dutch foreign minister.

Macron then visited Annecy to pay tribute to all those who provided “help and support” during the tragedy.

“Attacking children is the most barbaric act imaginable,” Macron said.

“There are things that cannot be digested. The violence behind these actions is impossible to understand. We can’t get used to it,” he added.

The attack that took place in the park in broad daylight shocked the whole country and, in particular, the city of Annecy.

Hundreds of people went to put white flowers, stuffed animals, candles or leave messages of support at a small makeshift memorial at the site of the attack, where children returned to play hours after the drama.

In Annecy, the day ended with a mass in memory of the victims at the Cathedral of Saint-Pierre-aux-Liens. Among the participants was Henri, a young man who tried to neutralize the attacker.

“I don’t like the term “hero” at all. I think that I did what any Frenchman could and should have done, ”he said before the Mass.