what we know about the attack near Paris

A teacher was found beheaded in the middle of the street in Conflans-Saint-Honorine near his college on Friday at the end of the day and his attacker shot dead by the police.

This is what we know about the attack.

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What happened ?

Around 5 p.m., the police from the Conflans-Sainte-Honorine anti-crime squad were called in for a suspicious man prowling near the Bois d’Aulne college.

When they arrive there, they discover the body of a decapitated man. 200 meters further, in the town of Eragny, they try to stop a man in possession of a stabbing weapon which threatens them. They fire, the man dies of his injuries.

Who is the victim ?

He is a history and geography professor from the Bois d’Aulne college, a quiet suburban district of Conflans-Sainte-Honorine. The teacher had recently shown caricatures of Muhammad to his students as part of a course on freedom of expression. Some parents were upset, especially on social networks.

“He was a teacher who used to talk to them about Islam, about cartoons”

“Apparently it was a teacher who used to talk to them about Islam, caricatures and all that, it wasn’t the first time that my son came home and said the teacher told us about this today, “said a parent.

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Who is the aggressor?

In the evening, this man had not yet been formally identified. According to the first police on the spot, he shouted “Allah Akbar” before being killed by the police, we learned from a source close to the investigation. He was armed with a knife, according to a police source.

Investigators are now trying to find out if he himself posted a message on Twitter showing a photo of the victim’s head with a message to Emmanuel Macron, “the leader of the infidels”, and who says he wants to avenge the one “who dared to belittle Muhammad”.

What is the context?

This attack comes three weeks after the one in front of the former premises of Charlie Hebdo in Paris, in the midst of the January 2015 attacks, which decimated the editorial staff of the satirical weekly. The editorial staff of Charlie Hebdo has been the subject of new threats, from Al Qaeda in particular, since the republication of the Muhammad cartoons on September 2 for the opening of the trial.

The representation of the prophets is strictly prohibited by Sunni Islam. Ridiculing or insulting the Prophet Muhammad is punishable by death in some Muslim countries.