Page 37 - 082217

Groton Daily Independent
Tuesday, Aug. 22, 2017 ~ Vol. 25 - No. 053 ~ 37 of 45
It was the second time in a week in which a driver in France with mental health problems allegedly killed a person with a vehicle and was thought by authorities to have acted deliberately, but without terrorist intent. The Marseille driver, who has not been identi ed by name, was arrested in the scenic Old Port area of France’s second-largest city and held for questioning. BFM-TV said a witness noted the van’s license plate
number and was able to give it to police, allowing them to make the arrest.
Nearly an hour passed between when the rst bus stop was slammed into and the second, the police
of cial said. She could not con rm reports in the regional newspaper La Provence that the white van had been stolen.
A man was injured at the rst bus stop in a working class northern district lled with housing projects, David-Olivier Reverdy of the Alliance police union said.
The van later rammed into another bus stop in a second neighborhood, killing a woman. The driver steered onto the curb to crash into the glass-sided bus shelter then sped away, one witness said.
“We heard a loud noise, like a car accident, and we came to gure out what happened,” Nicolas Negre, 32, an employee at a nearby fast food restaurant, said. “We saw ... a person lying inert, with blood on her, and the van leaving very quickly, moving fast, burning rubber.”
Negre said the gruesome scene made clear that “he had to climb the pavement ... He hit and then left very quickly”
La Provence reported that the suspect came to Marseille speci cally for psychiatric treatment in a spe- cialized institution. The paper did not name its sources and the police of cial could not con rm the report. On Aug. 14, a driver rammed his car into a crowded pizzeria east of Paris, killing an adolescent girl and
injuring a dozen other people.
A prosecutor has described the driver, a 32-year-old security guard, as under the in uence of drugs
and showing signs of paranoia, but not motivated by extremist views. He is facing murder charges after a psychiatric exam determined his judgment was not impaired and he could be held be held legally re- sponsible for his actions.
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Elaine Ganley in Paris contributed to this report.
Attack victims came from around world to celebrate Barcelona
BARCELONA, Spain (AP) — The victims of last week’s attacks in Barcelona and a nearby resort town came from around the world and across generations, the latest a Spaniard who was stabbed to death by one of the attackers.
They are among 15 people killed and more than 120 others wounded in Barcelona and the nearby town of Cambrils on Thursday and Friday. The dead and injured represented nearly three dozen countries, places where loved ones are in mourning or experiencing a new kinship with the people of Spain.
Here are some details about the victims:
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Pau Perez, 34, Spain.
Perez was parking his car in Barcelona when the alleged Barcelona van attack driver attacked and stabbed
him while eeing police after mowing down dozens of people on La Ramblas.
The attacker then dumped Perez’ in the back seat and drove away, later crashing through a police barrier
and injuring an of cer before ditching the vehicle containing the body in a town outside the Catalan capital. The con rmation Monday ended days of uncertainty over Perez’s exact fate, although it seems police had already told his family and neighbors in hometown Vilafranca de Penedes he was dead, without giving
the full details during investigations.
Spanish media said Perez was an NGO worker and keen football fan.
The town Twitter account announced it deeply lamented his death, declaring three days mourning. ___
Julian Cadman, 7, Australia and Britain