A Moroccan national has been arrested in the Saint-Priest suburb of Lyon for the brutal murder of his own father, who he decapitated with a knife before parading the severed head around a local residential area, local media reports.
Police were called to the scene at approximately 2 a.m. early on Sunday morning after calls were made reporting a man chasing another individual with a knife on rue Louis-Braille in Saint-Priest.
Upon arrival, the victim’s body was found lying on the street, decapitated.
The attacker “killed his 60-year-old father with a kitchen knife,” the Lyon prosecutor’s office told AFP.
Police reported “that a man was walking around with a head in one hand and a knife in the other” in the nearby Louis-Braille park. It is understood that when the authorities arrived, the man attempted to stab officers, albeit unsuccessfully.
According to Le Progrès, the attacker shouted “Allahu Akbar” as he resisted arrest before eventually being detained.
The suspect was known to prosecutors for a number of previous common law offenses and “family disputes with a background of alcohol and narcotics,” prosecutors told local press.
Commenting on the barbaric attack, the local mayor of Saint Priest, Gilles Gascon, expressed his deep shock “by this abominable intra-family drama that has unfolded in our city.”
“What society do we live in? How can anyone commit such acts?” Gascon asked in a Facebook post on Sunday.
“I want to thank our municipal and national police for their quick response and prompt response of our CCTV. All light must shine on this bizarre drama. Given the seriousness of the event, I will request an appointment with the Minister of Justice and the Interior,” he added.
