An off-duty French police officer was seriously injured in Paris, allegedly by “African-type individuals” who had harassed him and his girlfriend before stabbing him twice in the abdomen.
On Sunday at around 6:40 pm, four suspects accosted a 29-year-old off-duty officer and his girlfriend at the Italie 2 shopping centre in the 13th arrondissement (district) of Paris, making derogatory remarks at them.
As the police officer attempted to confront the men, he was stabbed in the abdomen twice, with Le Figaro stating the police report seen by the newspaper described the assailants as “African-type individuals”.
The 29-year-old was initially hospitalised in critical condition, but as of Monday, his condition stabilised. Police have identified one suspect using CCTV footage and took him into custody on Sunday evening. The three other suspects have so far not been apprehended.
Interior Minister Gérald Darmanin commented on the incident on Twitter, saying: “All my support for the policeman in Paris stabbed while he was off duty. He is seriously injured. An investigation has been opened and all means are being used to find the perpetrators of this unbearable act.”
Lack of security and crime have become major topics in France ahead of next year’s French presidential elections, with a recent survey noting that 62 per cent of the French public believe that immigration was directly linked to the growing problems with insecurity across parts of the country.
In the last 20 years, France has also seen its homicide rate nearly double, with 2020 seeing a historic 4,472 cases of homicide.
Criminologist Alain Bauer highlighted the growth of killings in France earlier this year, saying: “Behind this daily violence, masked by attacks or mass murders, what is being revealed before our eyes is a global social process of questioning a founding achievement of what makes a civilisation: the right to live.”
In the last 20 years, attacks on French police have also more than doubled, according to statistics from the French Interior Ministry. The figures reveal that on average, there are 85 incidents against public authority officials recorded every day.
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