Police are still searching for the bandits who attacked a prison van and killed two police officers in Incarville, France on Tuesday, French media reported.
Mohamed Amra, 30, a drug lord nicknamed “The Fly” was being transported from a court hearing in Rouen to a secure prison in Evreux when the fatal attack took place shortly after 11 a.m. Tuesday on the A154 motorway at Val-de-Reuil in Normandy.
The bandits killed two prison officers in the attack and wounded three guards seriously. The escaped prisoner fled with the attackers in two vehicles, which he burned and abandoned on the road.
A police source said Amra is the head of a drug trafficking network. He got 18 months in prison last week for a series of burglaries.
Video from the scene near the Incarville commune shows the intruder, dressed in all black, firing an assault rifle at a convoy of prisoners.
Hundreds of police and gendarmes will take part in the chase, and President Emmanuel Macron has vowed that police will do everything to find the criminals. He also added in a statement:
“This morning’s attack, which claimed the lives of prison officials, came as a shock to us all. The nation stands with the families, the injured and their colleagues.”
In a show of “support” for the slain officials, all the prison administration’s trade union organisations have called for a “Prison Dead” day on Wednesday.
The Justice Minister said it was the first time since 1992 that a criminal had killed a correctional officer killed in the line of duty. Mr. Dupond-Moretti noted, adding that “the nation is grieving”:
“Every effort will be made to find those responsible for this heinous crime in Incarville.”
Meanwhile, Prime Minister Gabriel Attal addressed the National Assembly, which observed a minute’s silence for the victims:
“Police will spare no effort or expense. We will track them down. We will find them. And I tell you, they will pay.”
Nicolas Dupont-Aignan, leader of the right-wing Debout la France (France Arise), also wrote on social media:
“Absolute horror after the murder of 3 prison staff in #Incarville during the transfer of an inmate. My thoughts are with the families of the victims of this massacre. The state cannot allow such crimes to go unpunished. But when will it open its eyes and finally show respect?”
