As they prepared to enter for prayer, worshippers at the La Grande-Combe mosque discovered a gruesome scene. A well-known man in the area lay in a pool of his own blood on the floor. The Alès prosecutor’s office, working alongside judicial police and gendarmes, is actively searching for the perpetrator of the murder!
A Murder of Unprecedented Coldness!
On Friday, April 25, around 8:30 AM, two men entered a mosque in Gard to pray. However, only one of them emerged alive from that place! The other fell victim to a stabbing and had no chance to call for help. By 11 AM, other worshippers entered the mosque and immediately alerted the authorities!
Upon arriving at the scene, the prosecutor of Alès, Abdelkrim Grini, carefully observed the area. He stated, “The two men were alone inside the mosque, engaged in prayer, when one of them inflicted dozens of knife wounds on the other before leaving him for dead and fleeing”.
At the time of the incident, investigators were still unaware of the motive for the murder. The suspect, who had been “neither identified nor apprehended,” seemed to have vanished without a trace. However, a glance at the victim indicated that he had suffered “40 or 50 stab wounds”.
One can only imagine the pain and shock the victim experienced during the attack. It remains unclear whether the two were acquaintances. However, it is certain they had a connection, as they entered the mosque together. Now, it seems the investigators possess new information regarding this case!
Surveillance Cameras Capture the Scene!
The murderer overlooked a crucial detail when committing his horrific act. In fact, security cameras recorded the entire scene. Nevertheless, the criminal remains elusive. Furthermore, the recordings have revealed something even more astonishing about the assailant!
According to AFP, the murderer allegedly recorded his crime and sent the footage to someone else. He reportedly stated, “I did it (…), your Allah is garbage”. It was at that moment he realized that everything he had done was captured on film. He then exclaimed, “I’m going to get arrested, that’s for sure”, before fleeing the scene.
The authorities suspect this might be an “act with an islamophobic dimension”. However, they are not ruling out any leads in order to uncover the true motivations of the criminal. “This is a matter taken very seriously; the facts are extremely grave,” the prosecutor stated.
After interviewing other worshippers, police learned that no one recognized the assailant. However, the murder victim was a well-known figure in the community. He was a young man aged 23-24 who hailed from Mali and prayed at the mosque daily!
Bruno Retailleau, the Minister of the Interior, described this murder as “appalling.” On X, he stated, “I want to express my support to the family of the victim and my solidarity with the Muslim community affected by this barbaric violence in its place of worship, on the day of the great prayer.”
