French judges on Saturday filed preliminary charges against a man suspected of stabbing four young children and two adults at a park in the French Alps town of Annecy, France24 reported. The man was charged with attempted murder and armed robbery.
The suspect is a 31-year-old refugee from Syria who lives permanently in Sweden. His name has not been released.
Prosecutor Lyne Bonnet-Mathis told a news conference that the man was taken to court where he was charged with attempted murder and armed resistance. He has been remanded for further investigation.
Attack victims with better health
The victim is now in non-life-threatening condition, the prosecutor said. The children, aged between 22 months and 3 years old, are at a hospital in nearby Grenoble, where French President Emmanuel Macron visited them on Friday.
The six victims – four young children and two adults – came from four different countries: France, England, the Netherlands and Portugal.
The suspect was examined by psychiatrists who deemed him fit for the charges, the prosecutor said. He said the motive for the attack was still unclear but did not appear to be terror-related.
Main photo source: PAP/EPA/GREGORY ROSS