An investigation has been opened into the attempted murder of the mayor of L’Haÿ-les-Roses (Val-de-Marne) following a car-ramming attack on his home on Saturday night, the Créteil public prosecutor’s office said
Mayor Vincent Jeanbrun’s wife and one of his two young children were injured in the attack, according to the mayor, who condemned “an unspeakably cowardly assassination attempt”.
The judicial police are handling the investigation, according to the public prosecutor’s office.
According to Créteil public prosecutor Stéphane Hardouin, the attackers probably intended “to burn down the house”.
“Initial findings lead us to believe that the vehicle was launched to burn down the bungalow”, the public prosecutor told the press. “An accelerant was discovered in a bottle of coke”, added the magistrate, denouncing the events as “extremely serious”.
Prime Minister Elisabeth Borne condemned the attack.
“The Prime Minister condemns these intolerable acts and offers her full support to the mayor of L’Hay-les-Roses and his family,” Borne’s office said in a statement. “She has sent a message to the mayor and his family who are still in shock. The perpetrators will be prosecuted with the utmost firmness”.
French politicians were unanimous in their condemnation. “To attack the life of an elected representative and that of his family is to attack the nation”, wrote Senate President Gérard Larcher on Twitter. “Public commitment should never be synonymous with danger, either for oneself or for those one loves”, said National Assembly President Yaël Braun-Pivet.
L’Haÿ-les-Roses sits a few kilometres to the south of Paris, towards Orly airport.
France has seen several nights of widespread urban violence sparked by the police shooting of an unarmed teenager.
On Saturday night alone, more than 700 people were arrested and 45,000 police officers deployed.
