A terror attack suspect in Paris has been named after a backpack was set on fire and rail passengers were slashed with a knife in a rampage that left three in hospital.
Sagou Gouno Kassogue, 32, was in custody in the French capital on Saturday night following the savage assaults at the Gare de Lyon.
Shocked rail passengers watched him set his backpack on fire before first targeting a security guard short after 8am.
‘He first ignited his backpack, and then appeared to slash people at random by an escalator,’ said an investigating source.
‘The first victim suffered severe stomach wounds, but his life is not in danger anymore.
Sagou Gouno Kassogue, 32, was in custody in the French capital on Saturday night following the savage assaults at the Gare de Lyon
Police investigators work inside the Gare de Lyon station in Paris after an attack today
An asylum seeker from Mali wounded three people during a knife and hammer attack at the Paris station
Police investigators work on the crime inside the Gare de Lyon station after an attack today
‘Two other victims suffered slight injuries and were taken to hospital for treatment.’
It was revealed that Kassogue arrived in Italy from Mali in 2016, and was given a residence permit as he pursued an asylum claim.
He was suffering from extreme mental problems, and had been due to visit a psychiatrist in Turin this weekend.
Prosecutors in France said the initial enquiry was for ‘attempted murder’, and that Kassogue had no criminal history or links to terrorist groups.
There was ‘no sign of religiosity’, said the investigating source, but security sources said he had regularly posted videos online expressing his anger at what he called ‘colonialism’.
This included the presence of French troops in his native Mali fighting Islamist groups, including Al-Qaeda.
Investigators are particularly interested in a TikTok account – which has yet to be authenticated – in which Kassogue criticizes the French.
In one posting, dated December 2, 2023, Kassogue writes: ‘R.I.P. (Rest in Peace) in three months, may Allah welcome me to his paradise’.
Gare de Lyon, the second busiest station in France, handles up to 150million passengers a year, and was packed on a Saturday morning
A man seemingly armed with a knife and a hammer injured three people in the attack today
There has been a series of knife attacks carried out by violent extremists linked to Islamist groups in France over the past decade
Police investigators work inside the Gare de Lyon station after an attack earlier today
‘Africa should never forgive France,’ says Kassogue, who is wearing glasses and a beard in the Tik Tok video.
Laurent Nuñez, the Paris police prefect, said: ‘As we speak, there are no elements to suggest that this is a terrorist act.
‘The suspect’s residence permit was issued in 2019 and remains active,’ said Mr Nuñez. ‘The investigation is being carried out by prosecutors, with the assistance of judicial police.’
Gare de Lyon, the second busiest station in France, handles up to 150million passengers a year, and was packed on a Saturday morning.
It was immediately evacuated after the attack, with all services cancelled.
It follows a series of knife attacks carried out by violent extremists linked to Islamist groups in France over the past decade.
In October last year, a teacher was killed, and three others were seriously wounded in a knife attack by a radicalised Chechen national at a school in Arras.
And in 2022 a Chechen refugee beheaded Samuel Paty at a school in the Paris suburbs after the history teacher showed children caricatures of the Prophet Mohammed.
