French soldier opened fire on a man in Djellaba threat military personnel with a knife

Joachim Veliocas

A French soldier opened fire on Sunday at a man clad in a North African-style robe who was threatening military personnel with a knife in Lyon, police and the public prosecutor said, adding that the injured attacker was taken to Eduard Heriot Hospital.

The assailant was wounded in the leg in front of the Desgenettes military hospital in the eastern French city.

The man, in a long djellaba robe and carrying a knife, was spotted around 3 p.m. local time on the hospital grounds but refused to stop when asked to by a military patrol.

Lyon’s public prosecutor Nicolas Jacquet said an investigation was underway into “attempted voluntary homicide on persons with a public service mission.”

“After a summons, a soldier used his weapon, once,” the prosecutor told reporters.

The prosecutor’s office in Lyon has charged the judicial police with an investigation into attempted murder of public servants. The police must determine the circumstances and motives of this man in the military hospital.

The Office of the Prosecutor of Paris, dealing with terrorism, will be informed of the course of the investigations according to the Lyon prosecutor.