Summary
Gunmen attacked a prison van in Normandy, killing at least two prison officers and freeing the high-security inmate they were transporting.
A huge manhunt is now underway.
A police source said several individuals, who arrived in two vehicles, rammed the police van and fled.
“Everything is being done to find the perpetrators of this crime,” the president, Emmanuel Macron, wrote on X. “We will be uncompromising.”
The interior minister, Gérald Darmanin, said “all means are being used to find these criminals. On my instructions, several hundred police officers and gendarmes were mobilised.”
The French prime minister, Gabriel Attal, said the attack had targeted the French republic and the justice system.
The Paris prosecutor named the fugitive prisoner as Mohamed Amra, born in 1994, saying that last week he had been convicted of aggravated robbery and also charged in a case of abduction leading to death.
French authorities asked the public not to re-share videos of the incident on social media.
Manhunt launched after two French prison guards killed and inmate freed
Elite French police are searching for gunmen who attacked a prison van in Normandy, killing at least two prison officers and freeing the high-security inmate they were transporting.
The French prime minister, Gabriel Attal, told parliament that two prison officers were killed and three others were seriously injured in the ambush at a motorway toll. Attal said the attack had targeted the French republic and the justice system. “The whole country is shocked by this attack of unprecedented violence,” he said after parliament held a minute’s silence for the officers.
The attack took place at around 11am in Incarville in the Eure region of Normandy. A high-security inmate was being transported from a courthouse in Rouen to a prison in Evreux.
A police source said several individuals, who arrived in two vehicles, rammed the police van and fled. One was wounded, the police source said. French media reported that the men were dressed in black, wearing balaclavas and heavily armed.
The Paris prosecutor Laure Beccuau named the fugitive prisoner as Mohamed Amra, born in 1994, saying that last week he had been convicted of aggravated robbery and also charged in a case of abduction leading to death.
The fugitive inmate, Mohamed Amra, had been indicted by prosecutors in Marseille for a kidnapping that led to a death, the Paris prosecutor’s office said, Reuters reported.
A hotline is available for people who witnessed today’s attack.
Une cellule de crise est en place à la préfecture de l’#Eure, autour du préfet.
— Préfet de l'Eure (@Prefet27) May 14, 2024
Les forces de sécurité sont mobilisées pour interpeller les auteurs de cette attaque meurtrière
Une cellule de soutien psychologique est joignable pour les témoins de l’attaque en composant le 15 ☎️
The French authorities have asked the public not to re-share videos of the attack circulating on social media.
#Eure | Des vidéos choquantes de l’attaque circulent sur les réseaux sociaux. Aidez-nous :
— Ministère de l'Intérieur et des Outre-mer (@Interieur_Gouv) May 14, 2024
❌ Ne les repartagez pas.
❌ Ne les likez pas.
✅ Un seul réflexe : signalez-les sur la plateforme #Pharos.
➡️ https://t.co/u1tQ9fy4r2 pic.twitter.com/xy025XqFJ9
Gérald Darmanin, the French interior minister, has said the war against drugs is the big war that must be waged internally.
Gérald Darmanin: "La lutte contre la drogue est la grande guerre que nous devons mener en politique intérieure de ce pays" pic.twitter.com/DdQea5jl4A
— BFMTV (@BFMTV) May 14, 2024
Reuters cites police sources saying the fugitive inmate, Mohamed Amra, is a 30-year-old drug dealer from northern France.
One of the sources said Amra is suspected of ordering a murder in Marseille, and has ties to the city’s powerful “Blacks” gang.
Footage of the incident circulating on social media appears to show heavily armed men on a road, with a car crashed into a police van.
“They will pay,” the French prime minister, Gabriel Attal, said in response to the attack.
💬 "Nous les traquerons, nous les trouverons et ils paieront"
— BFMTV (@BFMTV) May 14, 2024
Gabriel Attal, Premier ministre, réagit à l'attaque d'un fourgon pénitentiaire dans l'Eure pic.twitter.com/waaLuzulzz
The French justice minister, Éric Dupond-Moretti, said two of the injured officers were in a particularly critical state, Reuters reported.
“Absolutely everything will be done to find the perpetrators of this despicable crime,” he told BFM TV. “These are people for whom life means nothing. They will be arrested, judged and punished according to the crime they committed.”
Here’s a map of today’s incident.
Today’s incident took place when an inmate was transported between Rouen and Evreux.
A police source told AFP that said several individuals, arriving in two vehicles, rammed a police van and then fled.
One of them was wounded, the police source said.
Here’s an image from the scene in the Eure region of France.
Escaped prisoner named as Mohamed Amra by French media
The escaped prisoner has been named by French media as Mohamed Amra, 30, known as “La Mouche” (The Fly).
Public prosecutor Laure Beccuau said Amra was under high surveillance and had recently been sentenced for burglary, and that he was under investigation for a kidnapping and homicide case in Marseille, the AP reported.
Updated
Gérald Darmanin, the French interior minister, has expressed his condolences to the families of the prison guards killed in the ambush this morning.
“All means are being used to find these criminals. On my instructions, several hundred police officers and gendarmes were mobilised,” he said.
Condoléances sincères et attristées aux familles endeuillées et aux agents du ministère de la Justice. Le plan « Épervier » a été déclenché. Tous les moyens sont mis en œuvre pour retrouver ces criminels. Sur mon instruction, plusieurs centaines de policiers et de gendarmes sont… https://t.co/KXzPJa0A2r
— Gérald DARMANIN (@GDarmanin) May 14, 2024
'Everything is being done to find the perpetrators,' Macron says
Emmanuel Macron, the French president, said this morning’s attack on prison guards was a “shock”.
“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 said.
L’attaque de ce matin, qui a coûté la vie à des agents de l’administration pénitentiaire, est un choc pour nous tous.
— Emmanuel Macron (@EmmanuelMacron) May 14, 2024
La Nation se tient aux côtés des familles, des blessés et de leurs collègues.
Tout est mis en œuvre pour retrouver les auteurs de ce crime…
Manhunt launched in France after prison guards killed in ambush
France has launched a major manhunt after at least two prison guards were shot dead and three others were seriously injured in an ambush, Reuters reported.
Heavily armed men ambushed a prison van to free an inmate, French police said, triggering the major manhunt.
