Fire at the synagogue in La Grande-Motte: the suspect was arrested in Nîmes

11:09 – Three people in custody

Although investigators seem to think that the suspect acted alone, two other people are in custody. They are members of the suspect's entourage. The suspect is still in hospital after being shot.

10:33 – Injured police officer released from hospital

The municipal police officer who was injured while trying to secure the area “released from hospital late this afternoon after undergoing tests”, assured the mayor of La Grande-Motte, St&eacutephane Rossignol, on Saturday evening, BFMTV.

10:02 – The suspect's profile

The alleged perpetrator of the fire in front of the synagogue in La Grande-Motte is a 33-year-old man of Algerian nationality. He was arrested on Saturday evening in Nîmes. Shots were fired, he was injured, but his life is not in danger. He claims to have set the fire his own car before fleeing and acting alone.

The resigning Minister of the Interior announced that the suspect had been arrested. RAID teams intervened at around 11:30 p.m. in a building in the Pissevin district, N&icir;mes.

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A fire broke out on Saturday, August 24 in front of the Beth Yaacov synagogue in La Grande-Motte (Hérault). According to information from BFMTV, firefighters intervened around 8:30 a.m. Two cars parked in front of the place of worship were on fire. A gas cylinder was reportedly stored in one of them. According to video surveillance images, a suspicious individual left the premises a few moments before the flames ravaged the site. The doors of the synagogue were hit, but no one present was injured. inside was not injured. A municipal police officer was nevertheless hit while he was setting up a security system. The exact origin or severity of his injury is not yet known.

A “clearly criminal” act

In addition to the firefighters, bomb disposal experts were dispatched to the scene to try to control the fire. Gendarmes from the investigation unit of the Hérault group were also mobilized to carry out the initial observations.

Informed of the situation, the outgoing Minister of the Interior, Gérald Darmanin, asked the prefects to increase the static presence of law enforcement in front of Jewish places of worship. He speaks on X of a “manifestly criminal” act. He will go there in the afternoon, accompanied by the resigning Prime Minister, Gabriel Attal.