A Tunisian migrant armed with a knife threatened to kill passers-by in the French city of Toulouse and, according to a witness who understands Arabic, the perpetrator said he wanted to “kill a dirty Frenchman.” The 22-year-old suspect, Daddis B., was quickly arrested by police thanks to surveillance systems in the area.
According to a police source, Daddis B. threatened four people with a knife, including three teenagers close to a local restaurant on the corner of Boulevard de Strasbourg and Rue Bayard where they witnessed a particularly violent scene at around 12:45 p.m. on Thursday.
“He was saying strange, disjointed things, he was really weird, we didn’t understand everything, but we understood that he wanted to kill people,” says a witness to the scene, well aware that he could have been one of the victims.
“He threw a bottle at a woman’s head,” added another local.
Photographs of the arrest were published on social media, showing the suspect face down on the ground with police forces gathered around him.
Witnesses quickly came to the aid of those being attacked, making the knife-wielding suspect run away, according to French newspaper La Dépeche. As the suspect fled, he continued to tell the people nearby he would kill them. He also stated he wanted to “kill a dirty Frenchman,” according to a witness who understands Arabic.
No injuries were reported.
The 22-year-old man, who already has committed a number of offenses, is said to have repeated his death threats at the police station as well. Investigations are continuing in an attempt to understand what led this man to commit these acts. Witnesses will continue to be interviewed as well.
