A manhunt in France commenced on Tuesday in the aftermath of an attack on a vehicle conveying a fugitive who evaded the chaos, resulting in the deaths of two prison officers and the injuries of three others. While transporting a prisoner from a courthouse to a penitentiary in the northern city of Rouen, the convoy was ambushed by assailants armed with “heavy weapons,” according to a statement distributed to reporters by French Justice Minister Eric Dupond-Moretti. According to the French news agency AFP, the prisoner was able to flee after other vehicles attacked the vehicle at a highway toll. In a statement, Gerald Darmanin, the minister of the interior, stated that “every endeavor is being made to locate these perpetrators.” “In accordance with my instructions, several hundred police officers and gendarmes were mobilized.”
Authorities were observed in the vicinity of a toll kiosk located on a highway in Val-de-Reuil, northern France, on May 14, 2024. In that region, a prison vehicle conveying a convicted burglar was targeted by heavily armed assailants, who successfully secured the inmate’s escape.
French President Emmanuel Macron declared in a social media post, “Every effort is being made to apprehend those responsible for this abominable act and ensure that justice is served in the name of the French people.”
Macron further stated, “The nation is in solidarity with the injured, their families, and their fellow citizens.”
The prisoner was identified as Mohamed Amra, a convicted criminal who goes by the alias “La Mouche” or “The Fly” by French media outlets.
According to public prosecutor Laure Beccuau, the suspect is also being investigated in Marseille for an alleged kidnapping and a distinct homicide case, as reported by the Associated Press.
A forensic tent was erected around multiple vehicles, and a significant police presence was present, as evidenced by photographs taken at the ambush site.
Beccuau alleges that the brazen assault on the prison convoy was the result of organized crime, and an ongoing investigation into the murder is underway.
