PARIS POLICE HQ STABBING INVESTIGATES AS TERROR EVENT

by Dani October 5, 2019 · France / IIslamic converts / Western Jihadists

Anti-terror investigators have taken over, on Friday 10/04/2019, the inquiry into the killing of four police employees by a colleague in Paris on Thursday 10/03/2019.

A 45-year-old IT specialist killed three police officers and an administrative worker in a knife rampage at Paris police headquarters. The motive is unclear but initially suggesting a workplace dispute was to blame. But investigators say new information justifies a terror probe.

The attacker, Michael Harpon (pic), was shot dead by a junior police officer after he attacked colleagues in several offices at the central police building in Paris.

Michael Harpon, 45 & a fother of two, converted to Islam 18 months ago, according to reports, and attended the mosque of Fauconnière, Gonesse. He had recently stopped talking to female colleagues in the office, including his female boss. But a government spokeswoman said on Friday morning that there was no indication he had been radicalised before the attack.

Police investigators initially said there was no indication the attack was an act of terror but Paris police chief Didier Lallement later told reporters no theory was being ruled out.

Reuters, quoting judicial sources, the move came about after several people close to the attacker, including his Muslim wife, Ilhan Eddibes, were interrogated and his mobile phone analysed. Harpon’s attack also corresponded with similar ones carried out by terrorists affiliated to Islamic State and Al Qaeda.

Michael Harpon, who was born in 1974 in the French overseas territory of Martinique in the Caribbean, worked in the force’s intelligence unit since 2003. He also had a hearing and a speech disability.