French police are still trying to establish the motive for five murders that were committed in the space of less than two hours near the northern port city of Dunkirk on Saturday afternoon.
A man who handed himself into police later the same day, claiming to be responsible for all five fatal shootings, has no criminal record and was not known to police or the courts, prosecutors said on Sunday.
The 22-year-old suspect was taken into custody after surrendering at a police station in Ghyvelde, just outside Dunkirk, at 5.20pm – about two hours after the first killing took place.
In a statement, Dunkirk’s chief prosecutor, Charlotte Huet, said the man was “unknown to the police service and judicial authorities”. She added that multiple inquiries were under way “to clarify the reasons that led the suspect to commit these crimes”.
A source familiar with the case said police were investigating whether the man had a professional falling-out with the companies where the first three victims worked.
A charge of murder combined with other crimes and possession of restricted firearms – five of which were found in the suspect’s car – carries a maximum sentence of life in jail.
The first victim was a 29-year-old man who died after being shot several times outside his house in Wormhout, a village south of Dunkirk, shortly after 3pm on Saturday. The local town hall said the man ran a local trucking company.
At about 4pm, two security guards, aged 33 and 37, were killed as they patrolled an industrial zone adjacent to the port in Loon-Plage, west of Dunkirk. Tributes were posted on Facebook to the two men, who were known locally for working as bouncers at carnival events.
Minutes later, on the outskirts of Loon-Plage, two final victims, believed to be Iranians aged 19 and 30, were shot dead. Local police and the prefecture said the men were living in a local camp for migrants.
Le Monde reported that a large police presence was deployed on Saturday evening to block access to the area where one of the many migrant camps on the coast is located.
“We don’t understand at all why two migrants were targeted,” said Salomé Bahri, of the Utopia 56 aid group. She said authorities had “nothing planned” when it came to offering other camp residents psychological support or shelter, despite the fact that “many of them saw what happened”.
Authorities in Wormhout offered their condolences to the victims’ families. “It is with great sadness that we learned yesterday of the tragedy that has left behind grieving families and devastated loved ones,” the town hall said in a statement on Facebook.
“In these dark hours, our thoughts are with the families of the victims, their loved ones and their colleagues, whose courage in the face of the ordeal deserves our respect.”
Agence France-Presse contributed to this report
