Truck attack inside a prison in France: A prisoner was raised during a violent ambush in which two guards were killed

Paris
CNN
—

At least two gunmen ambushed a prison convoy and attacked a prisoner in Normandy on Tuesday, killing two prison guards and wounding three others, according to French Justice Minister Eric Dupont-Moretti.

DuPont-Moretti said the violent incident, which is extremely rare in this part of northern France, occurred while the car was transporting a prisoner from court to a nearby prison.

Video from the scene showed a black SUV in flames that appeared to collide with a prison truck near a freeway toll booth, CNN affiliate BFMTV reported. Two masked figures were seen carrying what appeared to be long rifles.

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Dupont-Moretti told reporters that the incident was the first time that a French prison employee had died while working since 1992. He added that one of the guards left behind a wife and two children, and the other had a wife who was five months pregnant. DuPont-Moretti added that two of the injured suffered life-threatening injuries.

The National Police in Ix said the gunmen were still at large.

“Everything, and I mean everything, will be done to find the perpetrators of this heinous crime. These are the people for whom life means nothing. They will be arrested. They will be tried. “They will be punished for the crime they committed,” DuPont-Moretti said.

A manhunt is underway to find the suspects who carried out the prison break and the 30-year-old inmate, who was convicted of robbery and is being investigated for kidnapping related to the death, according to the French national prosecutor in charge of the organized kidnappings. The crime, and an investigation has already been opened into the incident. CNN did not mention the prisoner’s name at this time.

Interior Minister Gérald Darmanin said on Channel X that he had mobilized the National Gendarmerie and “several hundred” police officers in pursuit. BFMTV reported that authorities were at the scene setting up roadblocks and setting up a perimeter.

French President Emmanuel Macron said on Channel X that “every effort is being made to find the perpetrators of this crime so that justice can be achieved in the name of the French people.”