15-5-2024 (PARIS) A brazen attack on a prison van at a motorway toll booth in northern France has left the nation reeling, with two prison officers tragically killed and a convicted criminal on the run after a daring escape. The shocking incident, which unfolded late on the morning of May 14th in Incarville, Eure region, has prompted a massive manhunt involving hundreds of security forces and drawn stern condemnation from President Emmanuel Macron.
According to Paris prosecutor Laure Beccuau, gunmen ambushed the prison van as it transported an inmate between the town of Evreux and the regional court in Rouen, Normandy. In a coordinated assault, several individuals reportedly arrived in two vehicles, ramming the police van before fleeing the scene. One of the attackers was wounded during the violent encounter.
The audacious attack claimed the lives of two male prison officers, marking the first such fatalities in the line of duty since 1992, as confirmed by Justice Minister Eric Dupond-Moretti. Tragically, one of the fallen officers was a married father of two, while the other left behind a wife who is five months pregnant. Two additional officers sustained critical injuries and are fighting for their lives.
President Macron vowed unwavering resolve in apprehending those responsible, declaring, “Everything is being done to find the perpetrators of this crime. We will be uncompromising.” He described the attack as a “shock” and called for an uncompromising response.
Footage from surveillance cameras at the toll booth captured the harrowing moments of the ambush, depicting a vehicle colliding head-on with the prison van. In the chilling video, gunmen dressed in black emerge from the vehicle, engaging in a firefight before guiding an individual away from the van, presumed to be the escaped inmate.
Prosecutor Beccuau identified the escaped convict as Mohamed Amra, born in 1994, who had been convicted of aggravated robbery just last week and was also facing charges related to an abduction leading to death. However, sources suggest Amra’s involvement may extend to drug trafficking and ordering gangland killings as the head of a criminal network.
Occured today in #France. Members of a gang attacked a prison transport van that was carrying their leader, an Algerian thief and drug dealer, Mohammed Amra known as ‘The Fly’. They escaped with their leader after killing three prison guards. As it can be seen in this CCTV… pic.twitter.com/vNR6zJy1oI
— Babak Taghvaee – The Crisis Watch (@BabakTaghvaee1) May 14, 2024
The incident has been handed over to prosecutors from France’s office for the fight against organized crime, known as JUNALCO, underscoring the gravity of the situation and the potential links to broader criminal enterprises.
In response to the crisis, Interior Minister Gerald Darmanin ordered the activation of the Epervier plan, a specialized operation launched by the gendarmerie in such high-risk situations. “All means are being used to find these criminals. On my instructions, several hundred police officers and gendarmes were mobilized,” he stated on social media.
BREAKING:
The gang wars in France are spiraling out of control
3 prison guards were killed & 3 were seriously wounded after 4 men armed with Kalashnikovs rammed their van while transporting a gang leader from one prison to another
Mob leader,Mohamed “The Fly” managed to escape pic.twitter.com/gTxoTsmfEA
— Visegrád 24 (@visegrad24) May 14, 2024
The shocking ambush and subsequent manhunt have reignited debates surrounding law and order in France, with the far-right National Rally (RN) decrying what it termed “real savagery that hits France every day.” The incident comes on the heels of a damning report by the French Senate warning of the government’s inability to curb the flourishing narcotics industry, which it described as “a direct threat to the national interest.”
