Nov. 5 (UPI) — At least 10 people were injured, two critically, after police said a man purposely drove into pedestrians and cyclists Wednesday on a holiday island off southwestern France, authorities said.
Several people were hit as the suspect drove his car between two villages on Oleron Island, 15 miles southwest of the city of La Rochelle, according Thibault Brechkoff, mayor of the village of Dolus d’Oleron. Christophe Sueur, mayor of the nearby village of Saint-Pierre-d’Oléron, told French broadcaster BFMTV that no children were among the injured.
Brechkoff said the man abandoned his car near a bakery in the village, attempting to torch it before fleeing the scene.
Authorities said a 35-year-old man from the island was in custody after police used a stun gun on him.
La Rochelle prosecutor Arnaud Laraize said the suspect was known to police and that he shouted “Allahu Akbar,” an Arabic phrase used by Muslims meaning “God is Greatest,” as he was arrested. France’s anti-terror prosecutor’s office was monitoring the case, though no official investigation had been opened by the office.
The Guardian reported that the suspect was not on a watchlist of radicalized individuals. Sueur said the suspect was “well known, particularly by the gendarmerie, for problem behavior, for problems with alcohol.”
French Interior Minister Laurent Nunez said in a post on X that three people were in intensive care and that he was on his way to the scene from Paris at the direction of Prime Minister Sebastien Lecornu.
Brechkoff said the victims had been “deliberately” targeted, adding authorities on the island had established a crisis center to coordinate their response.
“All services are mobilized to manage the situation!” he said.
