The suspect had applied for asylum in France, Switzerland, and Italy in addition to Sweden, where he had refugee status for the past decade. There were four minors and two adults injured.
A three-year-old British tourist was among those stabbed in the French Alps on Thursday.
She was one of four children, including two 2-year-olds, one 3-year-old, and a 22-month-old, who sustained “life-threatening injuries” at an Annecy playground. Two adults were injured as well.
The suspect, a Syrian immigrant identified by French media as Abdalmasih H, was denied asylum because he has held refugee status in Sweden for the past decade.
French authorities denied the request on April 26, but the suspect did not learn of the decision until June 4, according to BFMTV.
The girl was transported to a hospital in Grenoble.
The French premier, Elisabeth Borne, has verified that all four children have undergone surgery and “are under constant medical surveillance.” A government spokesman stated that two of the minors remained in critical condition as of Friday morning.
BFMTV now reports that two of the children are cousins, despite previous reports that they were siblings.
According to the local prosecutor, one of the children is Dutch. However, Olaf Scholz, the German chancellor, stated that they were German.
Two adult males were also injured, one with a knife and the other by a shot discharged by police during the arrest.
Thursday, French Minister of the Interior Gerald Darmanin stated that the 31-year-old suspect had entered the country legally and was unknown to security agencies.
Mr. Darmanin stated that the perpetrator did not need to apply for asylum in Switzerland, Italy, or France because he already had asylum in Sweden.
He possessed Swedish identification documents and a Swedish driver’s license, according to a police spokesman.
Prosecutor Line Bonnet-Mathis said there is “no apparent terrorist motive” at this juncture in the investigation.
Ms. Bonnet-Mathis stated that there is no intelligence on the perpetrator, no psychiatric report, and he has no fixed residence.
Mr. Darmanin reported that he was wearing “Christian religious insignia” at the time of the incident.
He married a Swedish woman and had a three-year-old Swedish-born child, according to BFMTV.
The couple split up eight months ago, and his wife has not heard from him in four months.
BFMTV reported that he and his wife were studying together to become nurses.
The individual appears to have shouted “in the name of Jesus Christ” while waving his knife in the air, while two members of the public attempted to apprehend him, as captured on video.
A man who spoke with BFMTV reported seeing first responders working on “little bodies, perhaps three or four years old.”
A witness identified as Ferdinand stated to BFMTV, “He [the attacker] jumped [in the playground], began shouting, and then approached the strollers, repeatedly stabbing the children with a knife.”
“Mothers were crying, and everyone was fleeing,” George, the owner of a nearby restaurant, said.
A second witness saw the offender climbing on and stabbing an elderly man. He reported yelling at the authorities to act.
“It’s a place where babysitters and parents take young children to play, and the atmosphere is fantastic,” said Yohan, who works at an ice cream shop directly across the street from the park.
Former Liverpool footballer Anthony Le Tallec stated that he witnessed the incident while exercising around Lake Annecy.
“I can see that he’s heading straight for a group of elderly men and women,” he remarked.
“He attacks one grandfather, stabs him once, and the police can’t capture him, so I tell them,’ shoot him’.
Then, they begin firing; they fire at the individual in front of me, and he collapses to the ground.
Ms. Borne stated that it was a “heinous, unutterable act” and that the entire nation is in “shock.”
“Of course, all illumination must be removed. “However, today is an emotional day,” she said during a news conference.
Yael Braun-Pivet, the speaker of the French national assembly, stated that “nothing is more abhorrent than attacking children.”
The British Prime Minister, Rishi Sunak, stated, “The UK and France have always stood together against acts of violence, and we do so again today.
During a joint news conference with US Vice President Joe Biden, Mr. Sunak stated that he has been in contact with French President Emmanuel Macron and that he is “prepared to offer any assistance we can.”
In Paris, politicians halted a discussion to observe a moment of reverence for the victims.
Annecy mayor Francois Astorg asked people to avoid the Paquier neighbourhood and condoled with the victims and their families.
