Attack on a prison van in France: Inmate is jumped in an ambush that kills two guards

Paris
CNN
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French authorities launched a manhunt on Tuesday after gunmen ambushed a prison convoy in Normandy to free an inmate, killing two guards and wounding three others.

The violent incident, extremely rare in this part of northern France, occurred as the vehicle was transporting a prisoner from court to a nearby prison, French Justice Minister Eric Dupond-Moretti said.

Video from the crime scene showed a black SUV in flames that appeared to have crashed into a prison van near a highway toll booth, CNN affiliate BFMTV reported. Two hooded people could be seen carrying what appeared to be long rifles.

Dupond-Moretti told reporters that the incident was the first time since 1992 that a French prison worker had died while working. He added that one of the guards left behind a wife and two children, the other a wife who was five months pregnant. Dupond-Moretti added that two of the injured suffered life-threatening injuries.

The gunmen are still at large, the national police said on X.

“Everything, and I mean everything, is being done to find the perpetrators of this heinous crime. These are people for whom life means nothing. You will be arrested. They will be brought to justice. And they will be punished for the crime they committed,” Dupond-Moretti said.

According to the French prosecutor’s office, a manhunt is underway to find suspects responsible for the prison break, as well as the inmate, a 30-year-old convicted of burglary and who is being investigated for a kidnapping resulting in death. Crime, which has already launched an investigation into the incident.

Interior Minister Gerald Darmanin said on X that he had mobilized the national gendarmerie and “several hundred” police officers for the search. As BFMTV reported, the local authorities are setting up roadblocks and fencing.

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On Tuesday evening local time, French police said they had discovered two burnt-out vehicles owned by the attackers.

Paris prosecutor Laure Beccuau told a news conference that the two vehicles were found in Houtteville and Gauville-le-Campagne, two towns in the Eure department, where the attack occurred shortly before 11 a.m. local time (5 a.m. ET) near the Incarville toll booth took place.

One of the vehicles, a Peugeot, was used to ram the police car during the attack, Becuau said. The other vehicle, an Audi, had followed the van and carried the two armed men.

Forensic experts conducted “meticulous tests” at the scene and police examined videos of the attack filmed by eyewitnesses and posted on social media, Beccuau said at the news conference.

The prosecutor also revealed more details about the escaped prisoner, identifying him as Mohamed Amra and saying he was “very well known to the justice system” and had a total of 13 convictions.

Most of these convictions were for felony theft, Beccuau said, adding that Amra has been incarcerated in various facilities since January 2022.

Beccuau told journalists that at least three police officers had already been set as the security level for the escort a few weeks ago. Ultimately, five officers were involved in the escort.

A 52-year-old and a 34-year-old officer were both killed in the attack, while their colleagues, a 48-year-old, a 52-year-old and a 55-year-old, were all injured, she said.

On May 10, Amra was found guilty of burglary by a court in Évreux and was also under investigation in Marseille for a kidnapping that resulted in death, Beccuau said.

The prosecutor said the authorities’ priority now was to get to the bottom of this “outburst of violence.”

French President Emmanuel Macron said on X that “every effort will be made to find the perpetrators of this crime so that justice can be done in the name of the French people.”