(17 May 2024)
RESTRICTIONS SUMMARY:
ASSOCIATED PRESS
Rouen, France – 17 May 2024
1. Set-up Rouen prosecutor Frederic Teillet
2. SOUNDBITE (French) Frederic Teillet, Rouen prosecutor:
“When they arrived on the scene, firefighters and police officers from the police rescue service noticed an individual on the roof of the synagogue, brandishing an iron bar in one hand and a kitchen knife in the other. He was shouting abuse at them. Smoke is indeed billowing from the synagogue’s windows. As they are trying to persuade the man to come down from the roof, he threw the iron bar in their direction, it turned out to be a perforator chisel . He then jumps off the roof and runs towards a policeman, threatening him with the knife he is carrying, his arm still raised towards him."
++BLACK FRAMES++
3. SOUNDBITE (French) Frederic Teillet, Rouen prosecutor:
"The policeman stepped back several metres, pointing his gun at him and telling him to stop but the individual continued to run, knife still raised towards the policeman. After these warnings had no effect, the threatened police officer fired his weapon five times, hitting the man four times. The man died, despite immediate first aid treatment by the fire department."
++BLACK FRAMES++
4. SOUNDBITE (French) Frederic Teillet, Rouen prosecutor:
"The police officer who fired his weapon was taken into custody, as it’s customary, while the CCTV footage was processed and his statement taken. I have just viewed these images, which in my opinion show that this police officer used his weapon under the conditions permitted by the Internal Security Code. His police custody will be lifted as soon as his hearing is over."
++BLACK FRAMES++
5. SOUNDBITE (French) Frederic Teillet, Rouen prosecutor:
"An initial identification of the individual has been established, but only by the Rouen transport network card he was carrying. Investigations are underway to verify this. Finally, I would like to add that the national anti-terrorist prosecutor’s office has been informed of these facts, but the Rouen prosecutor’s office remains competent for the time being."
6. Prosecutor leaves
STORYLINE:
French police shot and killed a man armed with a knife and a metal bar who is suspected of having set fire to a synagogue in the Normandy city of Rouen on Friday.
Police said officers were alerted early Friday morning that smoke was rising from the synagogue and came face to face with the man when they got there.
The national police information service said the man surged toward officers with a knife and a metal bar and that an officer opened fire, fatally wounding the man.
Rouen prosecutor Frederic Teillet said: "The policeman stepped back several metres, pointing his gun at him and telling him to stop but the individual continued to run, knife still raised towards the policeman. After these warnings had no effect, the threatened police officer fired his weapon five times, hitting the man four times. The man died, despite immediate first aid treatment by the fire department."
Rouen’s mayor said the man is thought to have climbed onto a trash container and thrown “a sort of Molotov cocktail” into the synagogue.
Tensions and anger have grown in France over the Israel-Hamas war, and antisemitic acts have surged.
AP video shot by Oleg Cetinic and produced by Masha Macpherson and Jeff Schaeffer
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