Woman shouting ‘Allahu akbar’ stabs two in France supermarket
Man hospitalized with chest injuries from box cutter, another store worker also hurt in La Seyne-sur-Mer; attacker detained
French media reported that a woman crying “Allahu akbar” — “God is great” in Arabic — hurt two people with a box cutter at a supermarket in southern France on Sunday.
A man was struck in the chest during the late-morning attack in La Seyne-sur-Mer, outside the Mediterranean port of Toulon, but the wound is not life-threatening, prosecutor Bernard Marchal told AFP.
A woman working at a checkout counter was also wounded, though not as seriously. Both victims were taken to a hospital.
“It appears to be an isolated case by a person with known psychological problems,” Marchal said, “though that doesn’t exclude the possibility that she may have been radicalized.”
The 24-year-old assailant, who did not have a police record, was overpowered by others in the supermarket and has been taken into custody.
Police later searched her home to determine if she had any links to the Islamic State group.
“We don’t yet know if this is a terrorist act, but in any case it was terrifying,” Marchal said.
More than 240 people have been killed in jihadist attacks since the massacre at the Charlie Hebdo satirical magazine in Paris in January 2015.
Last month a knifeman shouting “Allahu akbar” killed one person and wounded four others during a Saturday night attack in a bustling Paris neighborhood.
