France car ramming: suspect ‘spoke of self-radicalisation’ after attack

The driver who ploughed into pedestrians and cyclists on the French holiday island of Oléron is suspected of “self-radicalisation”, Laurent Nuñez, the interior minister, has said.

Five people were injured, two critically, when the driver hit pedestrians and cyclists on Wednesday in a rampage lasting 35 minutes. A suspect, named as Jean G, was subsequently tasered and arrested. He shouted “Allahu akbar” as he was being detained.

The attack is being treated as a criminal, not a terrorist, case for the time being but a judge has been sent to the island to investigate whether it should be taken over by counterterrorism prosecutors.

Speaking to France-Info radio on Thursday, Nuñez gave more details, but said it was not clear whether religious motivations were behind the attack. “Based on a number of factors that exist with this individual, and the fact that he actually shouted ‘Allahu akbar’, there are religious references in his case that are quite clear and quite explicit,” the minister said.

Read more: The Times (UK)