The priest is being ‘well taken care of’
Amid the continued French Presidential run, a knifeman shouted, “we have to kill Macron”, as he stabbed a priest and a nun.
Father Christophe Rudzinski, 59, was stabbed 20 times before Sister Marie-Claude, 72, was sliced on the hand as she tried to snatch the weapon from their attacker. French Police were called to Saint Pierre d’Arène church in Nice, where they arrested a 31-year-old unnamed French man who was from the southeastern town of Fréjus.
The attack happened at around 10 am on April 14, mere hours after the 2022 Presidential voting kicked off.
Nice’s mayor, Christian Estrosi, tweeted an image from inside the church.
“I was the first on the scene once I was alerted to the incident by my assistant and the local police,” he wrote. “Both local and national police were swiftly on the scene together to neutralize the disturbance.”
Aujourd’hui encore, nos policiers ont été exemplaires.
Je suis allé avec @anthony_borre saluer les deux policiers municipaux qui, aux côtés de leurs collègues de la @policenat06, ont été primo-intervenants dans l’église Saint-Pierre d’Arène Bravo à eux. pic.twitter.com/97jLFpY2tm— Christian Estrosi (@cestrosi) April 24, 2022
He continued: “The perpetrator was a disturbed man, who was born in Fréjus, who has no prior convictions and who took out several knives.
Avec le @prefet06, nous confirmons que, selon les premiers éléments, l’individu n’était pas fiché et inconnu des services de polices mais qu’il faisait l’objet d’un suivi psychiatrique avec plusieurs séjours au centre hospitalier Sainte-Marie. pic.twitter.com/bc1QvxX2jZ
— Christian Estrosi (@cestrosi) April 24, 2022
“We have to ask if this was a premeditated attack because he had acquired a knife 7cm long a few days before the attack.
Avec le père @gilflorini auquel j’ai dit mon émotion et mon soutien pour lui et pour tous les fidèles de Saint-Pierre d’Arène. Tous mes vœux de prompt rétablissement au père Christophe et à soeur Marie-Claude. pic.twitter.com/t1Eydtv3mG
— Christian Estrosi (@cestrosi) April 24, 2022
Estrosi thanked the emergency services and emphasised that Father Krzysztof was being “well taken care of.” He is “awake and alert”, according to Estrosi, who has been in regular contact with the victim.
“A female worshiper was also injured and a number of parishioners are currently in shock and are being treated by psychologists and I want to thank again the emergency services,” Estrosi added. “The national and local police have collaborated together remarkably to neutralize the situation and to secure the church of Saint Pierre d’Arène as quickly as possible.”
France’s presidential election will be close by all accounts, with sitting President Emmanuel Macron seemingly taking the lead. However, far-right candidate Marine Le Pen, who took over from her father as party leader in 2011, is close behind.
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