The 2020 Villejuif stabbing was a mass stabbing that occurred in the Hautes-Bruyères area of Villejuif on 3 January 2020. The perpetrator, Nathan Chiasson, killed one and left two people injured before being shot and killed by French authorities.
| 2020 Villejuif stabbing | |
|---|---|
 Chiasson, as seen from a closed-circuit television camera during the attack. | |
| Location | Villejuif, France |
| Date | 3 January 2020 2:00 PM (UTC+1) |
Attack type | Mass stabbing |
| Weapon | Knife |
| Deaths | 2 (including the perpetrator) |
| Injured | 2 |
| Perpetrator |  Nathan Chiasson |
| Motive | Islamic terrorism |
Background
editThe 2019 stabbing at the Paris police headquarters is believed to have been a large source of motivation for the attack. In January 2015, terrorist Amedy Coulibaly claimed responsibility for the detonation of a car bomb in Villejuif, which may have further influenced Chiasson.[1][2]
Attack
editThe assailant, Nathan Chiasson, began his attacks shortly before 2 PM (UTC+1) in the Hautes-Bruyères departmental park in Villejuif. He wore a blue djellaba and walked towards a man while shouting the takbir, something he repeated several times while carrying out the attack. The man declared to Chiasson that he was Muslim, to which Chiasson asked him to recite a prayer in Arabic, which the man did. Chiasson decided to spare the man and headed towards other bystanders.[3][4][5]
He walked towards a couple who was observing the initial stabbing, and attacked the woman. Her husband, Janusz Michalski, intervened and was stabbed in the heart, instantly killing him. After stabbing Michalski, Chiasson stabbed the woman in the neck, seriously injuring her. Chiasson then stabbed a jogger on a road running alongside the park, who was injured. Several other people in the area were also attacked by Chiasson, but none were injured.[5][6]
Aftermath
editInvestigation
editFrom the afternoon hours of January 3, French authorities began to investigate the attack. On 4 January, the French anti-terrorism prosecution then took lead of the investigation. It was revealed that Chiasson was radicalized, and practiced salafi jihadism leading up to the attack.[7][8][9]
Perpetrator
editNathan Chiasson | |
|---|---|
| Nathan David Alexandre Chiasson | |
 Chiasson, as seen a short time prior to the attack | |
| Born | 23 June 1997 |
| Died | 3 January 2020 (age 22) |
| Cause of death | Gunshot wound |
| Nationality |  French |
| Motive | Islamic terrorism |
| Details | |
| Killed | 1 |
| Injured | 2 |
| Weapon | Knife |
Nathan Chiasson was born on 23 June 1997 in Les Lilas. He was described as having presented “high intellectual abilities” very early on in his life, but also suffered from physiological issues. He was subject to psychiatric monitoring from childhood and was hospitalized on several occasions.[10]
After regular schooling, he joined the ESSCA business school in Angers. After a year, however, he stopped training. “What will create obstacles to the pursuit of his studies […] are both his psychological problems and problems of addiction to various narcotics”.[11]
He was interned at the Saint-Anne Hospital Center between February and May 2019. He was diagnosed with schizophrenia.[12] He converted to Islam in “May or July of 2017”. He was already known to the police for several minor offenses, but was not being monitored as a potential terrorist. The first parts of the post-attack investigation showed that he carefully prepared for the attack, and suggest that he planned to be killed during the stabbing. Shortly before the attack, he emptied his apartment and wrote a will.[13][14][15]
On the morning of his attack, he took to Villejuif a bag containing Salafist works as well as a letter with testamentary overtones suggesting, according to investigators, that he was thinking of “taking the plunge”.[14][15]
See also
editReferences
edit- ^ "Les principaux attentats islamistes en France depuis janvier 2015". ladepeche.fr. Retrieved 28 April 2020..
- ^ "Acceleration de l'enquete sur Coulibaly". Ouest. 11 January 2015. Retrieved October 7, 2024.
- ^ "Attentat de Villejuif : la compagne de Nathan C. placée en garde à vue". SudOuest.fr. Retrieved 28 April 2020..
- ^ "Attaque de Villejuif : le parquet antiterroriste s'est saisi de l'enquête". CNEWS (in French). Retrieved 2021-04-25.
- ^ a b "Il a épargné un passant avant d'en tuer un autre : ce que l'on sait du parcours sanglant de Nathan C." LCI (in French). Retrieved 2021-04-25.
- ^ "One person killed, two injured in stabbing attack in Paris suburb". CNN. 2020-01-03. Retrieved 2024-10-07.
- ^ magazine, Le Point (2020-01-04). "La justice antiterroriste se saisit de l'enquête sur l'attaque de Villejuif". Le Point (in French). Retrieved 2020-01-05..
- ^ "Villejuif : la libération de la compagne du terroriste inquiète la police" (in French). Retrieved 2020-01-09.
- ^ "French prosecutors treating deadly stabbing outside Paris as terror attack". France 24. 2020-01-04. Retrieved 2024-10-07.
- ^ "Attaque de Villejuif: l'énigmatique trajectoire de Nathan C." Le Point (in French). 2020-01-05. Retrieved 2024-10-07.
- ^ l'Ouest, Courrier de (2020-01-05). "Angers. L'attaquant de Villejuif a été étudiant à l'ESSCA". Courrier de l'Ouest (in French). Retrieved 2020-01-05..
- ^ "Paris Villejuif stabbings: Attacker 'had psychiatric condition'". 2020-01-03. Retrieved 2024-10-07.
- ^ Rédaction Infirmiers.com (10 January 2020). "Attentat de Villejuif : un infirmier interroge les relations entre terrorisme et troubles psychiatriques". Infirmiers.com. Retrieved 28 April 2020..
- ^ a b "Attentat de Villejuif : oui, on peut être à la fois "déséquilibré" et "terroriste"". Marianne. 6 January 2020. Retrieved 28 April 2020..
- ^ a b "Attaque de Villejuif : pourquoi le parquet anti-terroriste s'est saisi de l'affaire". LExpress.fr (in French). 2020-01-05. Retrieved 2020-01-05..