First picture of Tunisian suspect after three killed in French church attack
A man accused of killing three church-goers in a suspected French terror attack has been pictured for the first time.
Brahim Aoussaoui, 21, allegedly attacked worshippers in the Notre Dame basilica in Nice before being shot 14 times by armed police on Thursday.
An image of the Tunisian migrant bleeding on the floor while being treated by paramedics was shared by Rita Katz, head of the SITE Intelligence Group.
Aoussaoui allegedly began his church rampage by slitting the throat of an elderly woman near the church’s holy water in an attempt to behead her.
Vincent Loques, 45, who was sacristan of the Notre Dame, was then beheaded as he prepared for the first Mass.
Brazilian-born Simone Barreto Silva, 44, also died with her injuries after stumbling to a nearby burger bar.
The mother-of-three’s last words to paramedics were: ‘Tell my children that I love them’.
Suspected assailant Aoussaoui is believed to have screamed ‘Allahu Akbar’ during the attack.
He continued to say the phrase – which means ‘God is greater’ in Arabic – while under medication as he was taken to hospital, Nice’s Mayor Christian Estrosi said.
Aoussaoui came into Europe via the Italian island of Lampedusa on September 20 and arrived in Paris on October 9, a document from the Italian Red Cross has revealed. The suspect was unknown to French security services.
President Emmanuel Macron said France was ‘under attack’ on Thursday, pledging his ‘support’ and ‘unity’ to citizens.
Mr Macron’s comments came after a string of other attacks on the same day. The four incidents, which happened within hours of one another, prompted him to more than double the number of soldiers deployed to protect against terror.
The French leader told a press conference in Nice yesterday France ‘would not give any ground’ to terrorism.
The killings put France on its highest level of alert and come at a time of extreme tension over the republication of caricatures of the Prophet Mohammed by the satirical newspaper Charlie Hebdo.
It also comes two weeks after teacher Samuel Paty was beheaded by an attacker in a Paris suburb.
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