'The nation is in shock': 4 children, 2 adults hurt in knife attack at France park

by JESSICA A. BOTELHO | The National Desk

Thu, June 8th 2023, 2:27 PM UTC

Ambulances and rescue trucks are seen after a knife attack in a park of Annecy, French Alps, Thursday, June 8, 2023. An attacker with a knife stabbed several young children and at least one adult, leaving some with life-threatening injuries, in a town in the Alps on Thursday before he was arrested, authorities said. (Florent Pecchio/L'Essor Savoyard via AP)

A police officer stands by the scene after a knife attack Thursday, June 8, 2023 in Annecy, French Alps. A man with a knife stabbed several very young children, including at least one in a stroller, and also assaulted adults in a lakeside park in the French Alps. The savagery left at least two children and one adult with life-threatening injuries, authorities said. (AP Photo/Laurent Cipriani)

Police officers and rescuers walk at the scene after a knife attack in a park of Annecy, French Alps, Thursday, June 8, 2023. An attacker with a knife stabbed several young children and at least one adult, leaving some with life-threatening injuries, in a town in the Alps on Thursday before he was arrested, authorities said. (Florent Pecchio/L'Essor Savoyard via AP)

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Ambulances and rescue trucks are seen after a knife attack in a park of Annecy, French Alps, Thursday, June 8, 2023. An attacker with a knife stabbed several young children and at least one adult, leaving some with life-threatening injuries, in a town in the Alps on Thursday before he was arrested, authorities said. (Florent Pecchio/L'Essor Savoyard via AP)

WASHINGTON (TND) — Four children and at least one adult were seriously hurt during a knife attack in an alpine town in southeastern France on Thursday, according to French President Emmanuel Macron.

Attack of absolute cowardice this morning in a park in Annecy," Macron tweeted, as . "Children and an adult are between life and death. The Nation is in shock. Our thoughts are with them as well as their families and the emergency services mobilized."

Multiple French media outlets later said a second adult was also injured.

The prosecutor leading the investigation said the children were between the ages of 22 months and 3 years old. They all suffered life-threatening wounds as they were playing in the park.

The suspect, a 31-year-old Syrian man, was taken into custody following the attack.

The individual was arrested thanks to the very rapid intervention of the police," Gérald Darmanin, a French politician, noted on Twitter.

Video posted on social media appears to show the suspect, who was dressed in black and wearing sunglasses, armed with a knife and running from victim to victim as people ran from the scene. At one point, he appears to stab a child in a stroller multiple times.

I said to the police, ‘Shoot him, kill him! He’s stabbing everyone,'” Anthony Le Tallec, a former professional soccer player who was jogging when he came across the attacker, said.

Annecy Mayor François Astorg told CNN affiliate BFMTV some of the children were operated on at an area hospital.

"For now, their conditions appear to be stable," Astorg said, adding that one adult was still in surgery.

French Prime Minister Elisabeth Borne said the suspect has refugee status in Sweden but his name was not released.

It was not immediately know what motivated the attack.

Le Monde, a French newspaper, noted that the man was recently divorced and has a child -- who is around 3 years old.

Lawmakers in France reportedly held a minute of silence as news of the attack broke.

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EDITOR'S NOTE: The Associated Press contributed to this report.

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