Deaf man is suspect in killing of four Paris police employees

[Transcript] In Paris, four employees at the Paris police headquarters were stabbed to death and news reports say the suspect is a 45-year-old deaf man who worked in the department for 20 years as a computer scientist or as an IT specialist. His name has not been released by police.

The Daily Moth reached out to contacts in France for more information and one source directed me to a Paris police website that featured a 45-year old deaf employee named Michael. We are not able to confirm if it is the same person or not, but our sources say it is him.

He worked for the DRPP, short for the Directorate of Intelligence of the Prefecture of Police.

News reports say the man has been identified as Michael Harpon, so it appears to be the same person. He was born in Martinique, an island near South America.

Police said the knife attack started in an office and continued in the headquarters compound, which is across the street from the Notre Dame Cathedral. Three police officers and a civilian worker were stabbed to death. One of the victims was a female police officer. There was a fifth person, a woman, who was attacked — she is in the hospital and seriously injured.

The suspect was shot and killed outside in a courtyard. There are images of the suspect lying down on the sidewalk with blood near his head.

The motive is not known, but it appears to be a workplace issue. News reports say the suspect recently converted to Islam. There was no obvious signs of radicalization.

The suspect’s wife is also reported to be deaf and was taken into custody. Their home was searched. They have two children.

News reports said the suspect had a ceramic knife to get around metal detectors, but police have not confirmed this.

French President Emmanuel Macron went to the police headquarters to show his support. Witnesses said they saw several police officers and employees in tears.

There was a large protest yesterday with thousands of police officers marching to object against low wages, long hours, and suicides within police ranks. It is not clear if there is any relation between the protests and today’s attack.

We are working on getting more information about Michael and we will give an update tomorrow.

http://www.leparisien.fr/faits-divers/paris-un-homme-arme-abattu-a-l-interieur-de-la-prefecture-deux-policiers-blesses-03-10-2019-8165307.php

https://www.reuters.com/article/us-france-security-convert/paris-police-hq-attacker-recently-converted-to-islam-bfm-tv-idUSKBN1WI1TS

https://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-7533375/Knifeman-attacks-police-officers-Paris-police-station.html

https://actu17.fr/paris-un-homme-arme-dun-couteau-a-attaque-des-policiers-a-la-prefecture-de-police/

https://www.insider.com/4-officers-dead-paris-knife-attack-police-hq-2019-10

https://apnews.com/6cf2774600ca4ef3a517d84a351a2b28

———

Supported by:

Convo [https://convo.click/2mVhM8h]

Gallaudet University: [gallaudet.edu]