Overview
- On 26 December, three women sustained minor knife injuries on metro line 3; police used CCTV and phone geolocation to identify a 25-year-old suspect and arrested him the same day in Sarcelles.
- The suspect’s custody was lifted after a medical exam deemed it incompatible with his condition, and he was placed in a psychiatric infirmary with formal questioning paused pending fitness to proceed.
- A French passport was found during a home search and authorities later confirmed the man is French by filiation, with Interior Minister Laurent Nuñez conceding a “dysfunction” in how he was administratively classified.
- Prosecutors opened an inquiry for attempted voluntary homicide and willful violence with a weapon, entrusting the case to the regional transport security unit; a terrorist motive is not being prioritized at this stage.
- Separately on 30 December at Temple station, a 26-year-old allegedly struck a passenger with a hammer head during an attempted theft, was arrested, and is under an attempted‑murder inquiry, with CCTV also showing an earlier assault on a 17-year-old.