Fire in front of the synagogue in La Grande-Motte: gray areas, hypotheses, cameras… what we know about the attacker

L'assaillant devant la synagogue de La Grande-Motte. DR

Two hundred police officers and gendarmes were on his tail. The manhunt did not drag on. Fifteen hours after the attack, the arsonist was arrested. But who is El Hussein Khenfri ?

A 33-year-old Algerian national with legal status, who arrived in France in the 2010s and is the father of a young child. This is what we know, in essence, about El Hussein Khenfri, the armed arsonist of the Beth Yaacov synagogue in La Grande-Motte. Anti-Semitic attack perpetrated this Saturday, August 24th in the early morning.

Unknown to the intelligence services, the person concerned is nevertheless listed in the police files for traffic offences and drug use. After living in La Grande-Motte for a while, he moved to Nîmes where he attended the mosque a few years ago, before being asked not to attend anymore. According to our information, he was creating problems with worshippers, who were shocked by his incoherent remarks and his heavy drug use.

This thirty-year-old is also known for squatting in apartments. It was in a dwelling that he was illegally occupying, in one of the towers of the Wagner gallery, in the sensitive district of Pissevin in Nîmes, that he was arrested by the RAID and the intervention brigades (BRI) of Marseille and Montpellier, Saturday shortly before midnight, after 15 hours on the run.

The shaved-headed assailant opened fire on the intervention column, which immediately returned fire. Wounded in the face, according to the national anti-terrorism prosecutor's office in charge of the investigation, he was also hit in the arm and was due to undergo surgery this Sunday evening at the Carémeau hospital in Nîmes, before being transferred to Paris for questioning this Monday.

Grey areas and a hypothesis

While many grey areas have yet to be cleared up, one hypothesis nevertheless seems to be emerging. Especially since we now know that the car set on fire under the H20 building, located opposite the synagogue targeted by this terrorist attack, belonged to the main suspect.

Indeed, how can one deprive oneself of one's only means of escape ? If not to die with weapons in hand as a martyr, after having committed the irreparable by attacking the fifty or so faithful who take over the place every Saturday. And the phrase of Prime Minister Gabriel Attal: “We have escaped an absolute tragedy”, would then take on its full meaning. Except that after setting fire to his car, El Hussein Khenfri quickly realized that the office was closed. Indeed, if during the week the prayer begins at 8:30 a.m., it is moved to 9 a.m. on Saturdays. A piece of information he must have been unaware of.

He found himself trapped with his car completely engulfed in flames. So, seeing that the doors remained closed, he hastily doused the two parked vehicles with petrol, opened the gas canister of the barbecue and set fire to the two main entrances. Then he fled on foot. According to our information, he went to Grau-du-Roi where an acquaintance came to pick him up. Is she one of the three other men arrested and taken into custody ? The story, for the moment, does not say.

The importance of cameras

The state-of-the-art monitoring center in La Grande-Motte proved crucial in solving this investigation. It should be noted that the seaside resort is equipped with 110 video surveillance cameras. The three main entrances to the town are no exception, and each vehicle is identified by the flashing of its license plate. We know its entry and exit times. On Saturday morning, the arsonist's vehicle was therefore recorded as soon as it entered. The exploitation of the images made it possible to follow him until he parked under the open parking lot of the H20 building, located opposite the synagogue. Then the video surveillance cameras of the religious building took over by capturing his face. By cross-checking all this information, the investigators were able to track down the suspect who, moreover, was located on site thanks to his mobile phone. This same phone that allowed his arrest, shortly before midnight in Pissevin, where he had been located.