Terrifying moment masked gunmen ambush prison van at French tollbooth, shoot dead two guards and free ‘narco boss’ dubbed ‘The Fly’ before going on the run
- The vehicle was attacked near the Incarville tollbooth, Normandy, at 11am
- Escaped inmate Mohammed Amra has a past conviction for attempted murder
- France prison van attack LIVE:[1] Latest updates as manhunt is launched
By Taryn Pedler[2] and Peter Allan In Paris[3]
Published: 11:33, 14 May 2024 | Updated: 15:00, 14 May 2024
This is the terrifying moment masked gunmen ambushed a prison van at a French tollbooth before shooting dead two guards and freeing a ‘narco boss’ dubbed ‘The Fly’ before fleeing on foot.
The prison van was attacked after 11am on the A154 motorway near the Incarville tollbooth, located in the town of Val-de-Reuil, Normandy, northern France[4].
At least two French guards were killed, and two others were left wounded, following the attack which saw the assailants and detainee, Mohammed Amra, 30, managing to escape the scene.
The inmate, reportedly nicknamed ‘La Mouche’ (The Fly), was being transported between the towns of Rouen and Evreux in Normandy before the bloodbath unfolded.
Amra’s latest conviction was for burglary, and he also has a past conviction for attempted murder.
Two prison officers were shot dead after four gunmen ambushed their vehicle at the Incarville tollbooth, located in the town of Val-de-Reuil, Normandy, northern France
The attack saw the assailants and ‘narco boss’ detainee, Mohammed Amra, 30, managing to escape the scene
The inmate, Mohammed Amra, reportedly nicknamed ‘La Mouche’ (The Fly), was being transported between the towns of Rouen and Evreux in Normandy before the bloodbath unfolded
Police officers gather at the site of the deadly attack in Normandy this morning
A police source told Le Parisien[5] that he was ‘the head of a narcotics network’ in France, and accordingly considered hugely dangerous.
The French publication also reported that Mohammed had attempted to escape his cell just two days before Tuesday’s escape.
He had allegedly been placed in solitary confinement an his surveillance level was raised to ‘Escort 3’.
According to BFMTV[6], Amra was sentenced to 18 months in prison last Tuesday by the Evreux judicial court for aggravated thefts, in particular thefts from supermarkets and businesses in the suburbs of Evreux between August and October 2019.
The suspect is indicted for attempted homicide in Saint-Etienne du-Rouvray.
He is also reportedly indicted in Marseille for intentional homicide committed on June 17, 2022, in Aubagne on a resident of Dreux, in a drug trafficking case.
At the time of the attack, he was being transferred from one detention centre to another, on a route that should have been secret.
The prisoner and gang members initially escaped in two cars – an Audi A5 and a BMW 5 series.
According to local reports, the white Audi A5 was found ablaze in nearby Vatteville, Eure.
A local police source said: ‘The ambush happened at the Incarville toll booth on the A154 road. Kalashnikovs are thought to be have been used.
‘Three prison officers are thought to be dead, and three others are seriously wounded.
‘A detainee known for cases linked to drug trafficking escaped with a gang made up of around four men.’
Amra was being transported between the towns of Rouen and Evreux in Normandy before the bloodbath unfolded at the Incarville tollbooth
A forensic is at work at the site of a ramming attack which took place late morning at a road toll in Incarville in the Eure region of northern France
Emergency services were spotted at the tollbooth this morning after the ambush that saw two French officers killed
A fire engine also arrived on the scene
La Parisien reported that one of the officers who died at the scene of Tuesday morning’s attack was born in 1972 while the other was born in 1989.
One had a wife and two children, said the Minister of Justice, Eric Dupond Morretti, while ‘the other leaves a wife five months pregnant’.
Moretti said: ‘All my thoughts are with the victims, their families and their colleagues.’
Alexandre Rassaert, president of the Eure Departmental Council, which covers Vale-de-Reuil, said: ‘I was frozen with horror when I learned of the real carnage that took place at the Incarville tollbooth.
‘I sincerely hope that the gang of killers who carried out this bloody attack will be quickly arrested.
‘All my thoughts go to the families of the service agents. penitentiary who escorted the detainees and who were killed or seriously injured during this attack which gave them no chance.
‘I also think of all the prison administration guards who, every day, guard prisoners at the risk of their lives.’
French President Emmanuel Macron also spoke out following the horror van attack.
‘This morning’s attack, which cost the lives of prison administration agents, is a shock for all of us,’ he wrote on X.
‘The Nation stands alongside the families, the injured and their colleagues,’ continues Emmanuel Macron.
‘Everything is being done to find the perpetrators of this crime so that justice can be done in the name of the French people. We will be intractable.’
Following the ambush, the road has been closed by police for an ‘indefinite period’, Bison Fute reported.
Footage posted online showed emergency services gathered at the tollbooth this morning.
A fire engine was also filmed pulling up just metres away from the chaotic scene.
The Minister of the Interior, Gerald Darmanin, announced, on X, that a plan had been launched to locate the escapees.
‘All means are being used to find these criminals.
On my instructions, several hundred police officers and gendarmes are mobilized ,’ he said.
Deputy mayor of Vendee, Veronique Besse, took to X, formerly Twitter[7], to express her ‘shock’ towards the incident.
I am deeply shocked & saddened by the scene of war against a convoy of the prison administration at #Incarville, which cost the lives of several agents,’ she wrote.
‘Every day, unspeakable acts of barbarity strike our country to the great indifference of our leaders.
I send my sincere condolences to the families and loved ones affected’.
References
- ^ France prison van attack LIVE: (www.dailymail.co.uk)
- ^ Taryn Pedler (www.dailymail.co.uk)
- ^ Peter Allan In Paris (www.dailymail.co.uk)
- ^ France (www.dailymail.co.uk)
- ^ Le Parisien (www.leparisien.fr)
- ^ BFMTV (eur02.safelinks.protection.outlook.com)
- ^ Twitter (www.dailymail.co.uk)