STORY: :: Police in northern France have shot dead a man who set fire to a synagogue
:: Rouen, France
:: May 17, 2024
:: Nicolas Mayer-Rossignol, Rouen Mayor
"An individual tried to enter the synagogue. He purportedly climbed over a trash can, went up to the first floor, and supposedly threw a burning element in the synagogue, a sort of Molotov cocktail with a fire starter."
"When we attack the Jewish community, we attack the national community, we attack France, we attack all French citizens. And all the people of Rouen are shocked this morning."
The attacker's identity and motive were unclear. He was carrying a knife and iron bar, according to local authorities.
France hosts the Olympic Summer Games in two months and recently raised its alert status to the highest level against a complex geopolitical backdrop in the Middle East and Europe's eastern flank.
Regional broadcaster France 3 said fire fighters were on the site. The fire had been brought under control, a Rouen city hall official said.
In 2016 Rouen was rocked by an attack later claimed by the Islamic State, when a priest was killed with a knife during service in town of Saint-Étienne-du-Rouvray, in the southern part of Rouen's urban agglomera
