Rambouillet knife attack
Part of Islamic terrorism in Europe
Rambouillet police station, scene of the attack
LocationRambouillet, France
Date23 April 2021 (2021-04-23)
TargetPolice employee
Attack type
Stabbing
WeaponsKnife
Deaths2 (Monfermé and the perpetrator)
Injured0
PerpetratorJamel Gorchene [1]
MotiveIslamic extremism[2]

On 23 April 2021, a man stabbed a police employee to death at a police station in Rambouillet, France.[3][4][5]

Attack

At around 2:20pm on 23 April 2021 a fatal stabbing occurred in Rambouillet, Yvelines, Île-de-France.[3][4] An unarmed administrative assistant was twice stabbed from behind in the throat by the assailant.[3][4][6][7] The knifeman was shot twice by police at the scene and died from his wounds.[3][4][8]

Attacker

The attacker was named as Jamel Gorchene, a 36-year-old Tunisian man who arrived in France illegally in 2009 who was not known to security services. He lived illegally in France for ten years until he obtained residency papers in 2020 which were valid until December 2021.[3][8] He had recently moved to Rambouillet.[3]

His Facebook posts were almost exclusively concerned with the defence of the Muslim community and Islamophobia. In October 2020, a few days after a jihadist murdered French schoolteacher Samuel Paty, he changed his profile picture and joined an online campaign named Respectez Mohamed prophète de Dieu (English: respect Mohammed, the prophet of God).[8]

Gorchene watched videos which glorified and encouraged martyrdom and jihad before his attack.[9]

Victim

The dead woman, Stéphanie Monfermé, was a 49-year-old mother of two. According to police sources referenced by Agence France-Presse, she had worked for the police for 28 years. She worked in administration and was not a police officer, and consequently did not wear a uniform or carry a sidearm.[10][11]

A ceremony was held in Rambouillet 26 April to commemorate Monfermé which was attended by government ministers, her husband and two daughters, and hundreds of French mourners.[12]

Reaction

Prime Minister Jean Castex and Interior Minister Gérald Darmanin visited the scene of the attack[13] and president Emmanuel Macron visited the family of the victim.[7]

An investigation into the attack was launched by the French Parquet national antiterroriste (PNAT).[13] Macron reaffirmed his opposition to Islamic terrorism.[3][14] National Rally leader Marine Le Pen criticised the decision to grant French residency to an illegal immigrant.[3]

References

  1. ↑ "Attentat de Rambouillet : une cinquième personne en garde à vue". FranceBleu (in French). 25 April 2021. Retrieved 25 April 2021.
  2. ↑ European Union Agency for Law Enforcement Cooperation. (2022). files/documents/Tesat_Report_2022_0.pdf European Union Terrorism Situation and Trend Report 2022 (PDF). Publications Office. pp. 21–22. doi:10.2813/467703. ISBN 978-92-95220-44-7. ISSN 2363-0876. Retrieved 14 July 2022. {{cite book}}: |website= ignored (help); Check |url= value (help)
  3. 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 "French police worker killed in knife attack at station near Paris". The Guardian. 23 April 2021. Archived from the original on 16 July 2023.
  4. 1 2 3 4 French anti-terror unit opens investigation after woman stabbed in neck outside police station
  5. ↑ "French police station stabbing: Terror inquiry into Rambouillet knife attack". BBC News. 23 April 2021. Retrieved 24 April 2021.
  6. ↑ Rambouillet: L'assaillant a crié "Allah Akbar" - 23/04 (in French), retrieved 25 April 2021
  7. 1 2 "Terror in Frankreich: Suche nach möglichen Komplizen". www.nordschleswiger.dk. 24 April 2021. Retrieved 25 April 2021.
  8. 1 2 3 "Rambouillet : ce que l'on sait de l'assaillant qui a tué une fonctionnaire de police". Franceinfo (in French). 24 April 2021. Retrieved 26 April 2021.
  9. ↑ "Radicalisation, troubles de la personnalité : nouvelles révélations sur l'assaillant de Rambouillet". LCI (in French). Retrieved 2 May 2021.
  10. ↑ "Attaque au commissariat de Rambouillet : qui était Stéphanie, la fonctionnaire de police tuée ?". Franceinfo (in French). 23 April 2021. Retrieved 26 April 2021.
  11. ↑ "La policière tuée à Rambouillet recevra un hommage national vendredi". Le HuffPost (in French). 27 April 2021. Retrieved 28 April 2021.
  12. ↑ "Rambouillet : un hommage et beaucoup d'émotion après la mort de Stéphanie M." Franceinfo (in French). 27 April 2021. Retrieved 28 April 2021.
  13. 1 2 agences, France Inter avec (23 April 2021). "Macron promet de ne "rien céder" au "terrorisme islamiste" après l'attaque au couteau de Rambouillet". France Inter (in French). Retrieved 25 April 2021.
  14. ↑ "Macron vows France will 'never give in' to 'Islamist terrorism' after deadly knife attack". Fox News. 24 April 2021. Retrieved 24 April 2021.
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