At least four people are in critical condition after a driver rammed his car into 10 pedestrians on a French island, the BBC reports.
The suspect, identified as being 35 years old, was charged with suspicion of attempted murder and is accused of deliberately driving into people on the holiday island of Ile d’Oléron, according to authorities. The man traveled between two villages before hitting the victims, which included a young girl, before being immobilized with a stun gun during his detainment, according to Dolus d’Oléron Mayor Thibault Brechkoff.
The suspect eventually abandoned the vehicle, which he then attempted to set on fire as a gas canister was found in the back of the car, before attempting to flee, according to Brechkoff. The man, who was reportedly known to police prior to the incident, allegedly shouted “Allahu Akbar,” the Arabic phrase meaning “God is greatest,” at the time of his arrest, according to Arnaud Laraize, the public prosecutor for La Rochelle.
The suspect is being held by police in Saint-Pierre-d’Oléron, however, anti-terror authorities have not been assigned to the case as of Wednesday (November 5) morning. The incident took place on Ile d’Oléron, France’s second-largest island, at around 8:45 a.m. local time with witnesses claiming to have seen a series of incidents take place in several areas before ultimately concluding outside a bakery.
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