Suspect in teacher’s assault in France was Chechen teen

French police officers stand guard a street in Eragny on Oct. 16, 2020 where a suspect was shot dead by policemen after assaulting a teacher. (AFP)

• France has seen occasional violence involving its Chechen community in recent months

PARIS: A suspect shot dead by police after the decapitation of a history teacher in an attack near Paris Friday was an 18-year-old Chechen, police said.
France’s anti-terrorism prosecutor’s office said that authorities investigating the horrific killing of the man in Conflans-Sainte-Honorine have also arrested nine suspects, including the grandparents, parents and 17-year-old brother of the attacker.
Chechnya is a predominantly Muslim Russian republic in the North Caucasus. Two wars in the 1990s triggered a wave of emigration, with many Chechens heading for western Europe.
France has seen occasional violence involving its Chechen community in recent months, believed linked to local criminal activity and score-settling.
A police official said the suspect in Friday’s attack armed was shot dead about 600 meters (yards) from where the teacher was killed. He was armed with a knife and an airsoft gun — which fires plastic pellets — and police opened fire after he failed to respond to orders to put down his arms, and acted in a threatening manner.
French President Emmanuel Macron arrived quickly at the school on Friday night to denounce what he called a “Islamic terrorist attack.” He urged the nation to stand united against extremism.
“One of our compatriots was murdered today because he taught ... the freedom of expression, the freedom to believe or not believe,” Macron said.
The French anti-terrorism prosecutor opened an investigation for murder with a suspected terrorist motive, the prosecutor’s office said.