Île-de-France: A university official attacked with a knife, a wanted suspect

One of the vice-presidents of the University of Versailles Saint-Quentin-en-Yvelines, a 41-year-old trained lawyer according to Le Parisien, was attacked with a knife on Friday evening on the premises of the university but his life is not in danger, the establishment said on Saturday morning. This attack took place “in the early evening” on Friday “in the premises of the presidency,” said the president of the establishment, Loïc Josseran, in a press release. “He was transported to hospital but only to receive some treatment,” said a police source, specifying that there was “no serious injury” and recalling that the “stabbing” attack occurred “around 7:45 p.m.” within the university.

According to information collected by the Parisian daily, the victim, who was working in his office, went out into the corridor after hearing a noise. She then found herself faced with a hooded individual, wearing a surgical mask and aged 15 to 30 years old according to her description, who rushed at the vice-president without a word. The professor managed to take refuge in his office, injured in the forehead and hand, before alerting a colleague who called the emergency services. When they arrived, the police carried out a security visit without finding the attacker, who was on the run.

After a rapid intervention by emergency services and law enforcement, he was “taken care of by medical services and his life is not in danger,” added Loïc Josseran, specifying “that an investigation is underway to determine the exact circumstances of the facts” and that no other details will be communicated at this stage. This blatant investigation was opened by the Versailles public prosecutor's office for "violence with weapons" and the video surveillance images are currently being used.

“I condemn with the greatest firmness this act of violence, which occurred in a tense university context, the motivations of which are not yet known and which nothing can justify,” underlined the president of the university. Still according to Le Parisien, if no avenue is favored at this stage, the vice-president, who filed a complaint, mentioned the recent tensions linked to social movements which have affected certain sites attached to the university in recent weeks.

Having expressed his support for the attacked university official, "as well as his relatives and all his colleagues", the Minister of Higher Education, Philippe Baptiste, declared Friday evening that he had "full confidence in the justice system to shed light on this attack and to hold its perpetrator accountable for his actions". “No violence is acceptable” and “the State stands alongside universities, their governance and their teams,” assured Philippe Baptiste in his message.