Synagogue attacker caught after shootout with French police

PARIS, France (AFP) — French police arrested a suspect for an attack on a synagogue after a shootout in which the man was wounded, a source close to the investigation said Sunday.

The suspect, a 33-year-old Algerian, was detained in the southern city of Nimes on Saturday night, a few hours after the attack on the synagogue in the nearby seaside resort of La Grand Motte in which a police officer was injured.

The investigation source said that four people are now in custody after two cars were set alight in a car park under the synagogue, causing an explosion just 30 minutes before its Saturday service.

The main suspect was wounded in a shootout with specialist officers who had been hunting him, according to the source. The suspect’s life was not in danger.

The suspect, who was wearing a Palestinian flag around his waist, was caught on closed circuit television staging the attack, according to images seen by Agence France-Presse.

After visiting the synagogue, French Prime Minister Gabriel Attal said that “an absolute tragedy” had been narrowly avoided.