(NewsInsights.org) – French authorities in Normandy have mounted a massive manhunt after an armed gang ambushed prison guards transporting Mohamed “The Fly” Amra from a court date in Rouen back to prison in the small town of Évreux on May 14. Gunmen killed two guards and seriously wounded three others in the attack, which French Interior Minister Gerald Darmanin called a display of “cold-blooded barbarity.”
Around 11 a.m., the gang used a Peugeot to ram the prison van at a toll booth plaza junction of the A154 and A13 highways. According to Paris state prosecutor Laure Beccuau, men armed with rifles exited the vehicle, and more armed gang members from an Audi joined them. She said they “fired several times” at the prison van and an escort car, killing and wounding officers, before freeing Amra and leaving the scene.
Authorities later found the two vehicles used in the ambush burned in different locations. President Emmanuel Macron told his citizens his government was doing everything it could “to find the perpetrators.”
French Justice Minister Eric Dupond-Moretti promised resources “to find the perpetrators of this vile crime.” He called the perpetrators “people for whom life has no value” and promised they would face punishment “proportionate to the crime.”
A court convicted Amra, 30, of burglary on May 10. However, he also faced an indictment for a Marseille kidnapping that resulted in the victim’s death. He has a lengthy criminal history dating back to his first conviction at 15 years old. Authorities believe he may have ties to a drug cartel in Southern France, centered in Marseille, although he had no drug arrests or convictions.
The ambush killed a 52-year-old officer, who left behind a wife and 21-year-old twins. He died two days before their birthday. Gunmen also killed a 34-year-old officer, who left behind his pregnant wife and unborn child.
Prison staff at detention facilities across the nation have instituted work slowdowns, demonstrations, and strikes to demand changes to improve safety, including the use of video-conferencing for prisoner hearings. They also held a moment of silence for their fallen comrades on Wednesday, May 15, at 11 a.m., the time the attack took place.
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