A man who was trying to set fire to a synagogue in the French port city of Rouen has been shot dead. The stand-off between the individual and police heightened when the man, armed with a knife and an iron bar, moved towards police – prompting gunshots to be fired.
Rouen Mayor Nicolas Mayer-Rossignaol said the attack on the synagogue did not just affect the Jewish community, but had the entire city shocked, the BBC reports.
He said the Normandy town was “battered and shocked” and added his “total support for the Jewish community of Rouen”.
France’s Interior Minister Gerald Darmanin confirmed that the armed suspect had been “neutralised” after he “obviously wanted to set fire to a synagogue”. In a post on X, formerly known as Twitter, Mr Darmanin thanked officers for their courage.
He said: “In Rouen, national police officers neutralised an armed individual early this morning an armed individual clearly wishing to set fire to the town’s synagogue. I congratulate them on their responsiveness and their courage.”
The police were called to the scene at 6.40am after smoke was reported billowing from the building. Regional French broadcaster France 3 said firefighters remain at the site and that the fire is under control.
Mayor Mayer-Rossignol confirmed that no one else is thought to have been involved.
Members of the Jewish community in France praised the quick response. Elie Korchia, President of the Central Consistory of France, paid tribute to the police “who prevented another anti-Semitic tragedy in our country”.
He said: “On the eve of Shabbat, an armed individual who wanted to set fire to the Consistorial synagogue in Rouen was neutralised by police officers who were nearby. Our thanks to our police officers who prevented another anti-Semitic tragedy in our country.”
The country has been on high alert for anti-Semitic acts since Hamas’s October 7 attack on southern Israel and Israel‘s war in Gaza.
France has the largest Jewish population of any country outside Israel and the US, as well as Europe’s largest Muslim community.
According to a report by the Council of Jewish Institutions in France (Crif), attacks against French Jews increased in 2023 to 1,676 compared to 436 in 2022.
On Tuesday, Jewish groups condemned a “hateful rallying cry against Jews” after red hand graffiti was painted onto France’s Holocaust Memorial.