Device of the attack, profile of the attacker, mobile … what must be remembered from the press conference of the Nantes prosecutor – Liberation

The day after a knife attack in a private establishment in Nantesduring which a high school student was killed and three others were injured by one of their comrades, the career and motivations of the assailant begin to clarify. After a moment of tribute organized within the establishment in the afternoon, The Public Prosecutor of Nantes Antoine Leroy, held a press conference this Friday at the end of the day. He delivered the first elements of the investigation. Release take stock.

In the preamble to the press conference, the Nantes prosecutor said the assailant « Had just celebrated his 16th birthday ». The high school student he killed, she had just reached 15 years. The other three injured are two boys and a young girl: 15 years for the first two, and 16 for the high school student. Antoine Leroy also specifies that the suspect entered the establishment, within the Notre-Dame-de-Toutes-Aides college, in 2021. He then joined the high school of the same school group at the start of the 2024 school year.

« It all starts at 12 pm, Traces the prosecutor Antoine Leroy, When the respondent goes to the toilets upstairs of the establishment where a number of minutes remain. ” The assailant will in particular place his backpack there, « In which the police will find a pistol replica which he will not use. » Two knives were also found: one with a 20 -centimeter blade which he used, and another « Which he did not use ». During these « Fifteen minutes » spent in the toilets, the assailant « Write a few phases on the walls », « is scarify » at the forehead. Then, at 12:15 p.m., still from the toilet, he sends his nebulous manifesto by email to all students educated in the establishment.

A few moments later, at 12:30 p.m., when he had just left the toilet, the young man went to a first class of the second where a math class takes place. He then has « The face discovered » And « Stay on the doorstep ». There, « He asks if one of his comrades is present, the teacher and the students answer that not », explains the magistrate. The teenager then turns around, returns to the toilet where he masks his face. “All the events that will follow will be made with a concealed face. He will not strictly say any speech. ” He then returned to the same second class, and attacks « Immediately and exclusively to a single person, who will be the girl who will die for the stab wounds that he gave her », in front of all students and the teacher.

The prosecutor, based on the autopsy of the victim’s body, insists on the « Violence of action » . « The respondent gave 57 stabs in total, on the upper body, on the skull and in the throat, the most deadly being those given in the jugular and carotid vein ». The magistrate indicates that the assailant struck his victim when she was standing and continued when she was on the ground. « He continued to go on to her ».

After killing the high school student, the suspect « Go to the front room ». SO, « Without any distinction », The teenager attacks « To three students closest to him ». “A first young girl takes a few non-wicked stab wounds. The second victim, a young man, takes a slightly more serious stab and the third victim, also a young man, takes even more serious stab on the upper part of the body, especially one or more on the skull « details the magistrate.

According to the prosecutor, hearing all the howls upstairs, « A computer technician went up very quickly ». He then arrived in the classroom, in which he counted three victims. By entering the room, this IT manager « Sees the respondent with the knife in hand ». He decides « To give him a chair in his back, on the skull ». The young teenager turns around and tries to fight back, before being hunted by the technician, who ends up blocking him in a « Kind of airlock » from which he could no longer come out. Then begins « A rapid dialogue between the personnel present and the respondent, who then calmed down and agreed to deposit the knife and the little penknife ».

Nantes prosecutor Antoine Leroy then detailed the personality of the respondent in four points. « He is a young person described by everyone as being extremely lonely », he begins. « He has little friend, if not at all, he has little dialogue with many people. » His mother, with whom he lived mainly, had worried about this loneliness and had organized a meeting with educational staff of the Nantes adolescents’ house. « This young person has had interviews six times with people likely to help him, » explains the magistrate.

Second point highlighted: « It is quite clear in this personality a certain fascination for Hitler. A fascination identified by the teaching staff.  » He had been summoned on this subject on the eve of the Easter holidays, with his mother, by the management of the school.

Thirdly, « He is a young man with the suicidal underlines Antoine Leroy. A state revealed by several factual elements: he notably wrote to the felt on the walls of the toilet – where he being before the act – that he wanted « Let him slice his throat ». « This suicidal trend was also noted by the doctor who saw it in police custody », note the magistrate which specifies that the teenager « Will join a unit likely to treat this suicidal trend ».

Finally, the magistrate underlines that the accused, whose parents are divorced, lived with his mother « With whom he had very good relationships and who made steps to help him ». He had « Less frequent and more difficult relationships with his father ».

The Nantes prosecutor assures that the investigators found no mobile in this attack. On the other hand, they dismiss several hypotheses, starting with school harassment. « The young person indicates that he has been the subject of any harassment, neither at school, nor elsewherereports Antoine Leroy. He sometimes had the feeling that he was treated in a different way from the others. ”

The magistrate also dismisses the hypothesis of a « Potential affective relationship » Between the attacker And The girl killed. « The concept of disappointment in love is not the concept that (the suspect) advances himself, so as it is not to speak of love disappointment »said Antoine Leroy. Paradoxically, reports the prosecutor, “He was the only person in this high school with whom he could have a quality dialogue. He appreciated it. He had met her during a school stay in Rome some time ago. ” This is the reason why, according to Antoine Leroy, « When he enters the room, he does not attack her by chance », Unlike the other three victims.