Two people were critically injured when a driver rammed into at least five people during a half-hour rampage at a popular tourist island off France’s Atlantic coast on Wednesday morning.
The male suspect, 35, rammed the vehicle into pedestrians and cyclists on Île d’Oléron at 8.40am before attempting to set fire to his car with a number of gas cylinders inside in a “deliberate act”, according to reports.
Local media reported that the suspect, named as Jean G, had committed previous offences and suffered from mental health issues. He was tasered by French police before being taken into custody in a nearby town while an attempted murder investigation was opened.
The incident prompted anger from several right-wing and far-right politicians in France, who blamed “Islamism” for the attack. French interior minister Laurent Nuñez confirmed that the suspect shouted ‘Allahu Akbar’ while driving but authorities have not involved anti-terrorism police in their investigation.
Instead, they are believed to be looking into the suspect’s psychiatric condition in the lead up to the attack.
The Independent looks at everything we know about the suspect behind the car ramming on Wednesday.
How did the attack unfold?
At around 8.45am on Wednesday morning, a driver rammed into several people between Dolus-d’Oleron and Saint-Pierre-d’Oleron, two villages on the island of Oleron, over a 35-minute period.
French authorities say the driver shouted ‘Allahu Akbar’ as he carried out the attack, but police have been unable to establish a clear motive.
Pedestrians and cyclists were hit by the vehicle, with early reports indicating that 10 people had been injured. The toll was later revised to five.
One of the two people who were seriously injured was revealed to be the 22-year-old parliamentary assistant of National Rally MP Pascal Markowsky.
Their lives are no longer in danger but they have been left with “extremely serious injuries”, Mr Nunez said.
National Rally MP Sébastien Chenu declared in a speech at the National Assembly that the “Islamist threat has never been stronger”. He added: “This is a war that must be waged here and now. Our country has already paid a heavy price to Islamism.”
However, it has not been confirmed whether the attack was motivated by Islamic extremism.
Suspect had committed past offences
The suspect had committed several previous offences, the island’s mayor Christophe Sueur said.
He lived a "very isolated life” and "hadn't been talking much" recently, Mr Sueur said.
The suspect, a fisherman originally from the Dordogne region, had previously been found guilty of “numerous transgressions, notably due to his regular consumption of drugs and alcohol”, he added. Reuters reported that he was previously known to police for petty crimes including drink driving and drug-related offences.
The man reportedly lives in La Cotiniere, a small fishing village on Ile d’Oleron, a western island connected by road to the French mainland area of Rochefort.
According to Le Figaro, he was not on a radicalisation watchlist and was not believed to be a threat. The French outlet later reported that he had “recently become radicalised”.
Mr Nunez said later on Thursday that he was suspected to have "self-radicalised" and had "explicit religious references" at home.
"Based on a number of factors that exist with this individual, and the fact that he actually shouted 'Allahu Akbar', there are religious references in his case that are quite clear and quite explicit,” Mr Nunez added.
He went on: “It is the national anti-terrorism prosecutor’s office that will determine through a psychiatric evaluation – which took place yesterday after two searches – and a review of telephone records, whether these elements were the trigger for the violent action we have seen.”
Police ‘investigating psychiatric disorder’
According to BFMTV, authorities are focusing their investigation on whether the suspect had a psychiatric disorder. As of Thursday afternoon, France’s National Anti-Terrorist Prosecutors Office (PNAT) had not yet taken over the investigation.
The suspect was described by locals who encountered him as a “discreet man with fragile mental health”, according to Le Parisien.
A neighbour of the man’s father in Saint-Pierre-d'Oléron described him as someone who was “mentally very fragile” and “isolated”.
Two men in their twenties, who live near the suspect’s home near La Cotinière, told the outlet they had “crossed paths” with him on numerous occasions.
"He suffered from serious psychiatric disorders, capable of laughing one second and, the next, completely losing it. Everyone knows him for that, especially in the bars," one said.
A former friend of the suspect described him as someone who was "searching for himself”, and claimed he had recently announced an intention to "be baptised”.
