France jail van assault LIVE: Latest updates as two guards are killed

On May 14, 2024

Published: 14:42, 14 May 2024 | Updated: 15:20, 14 May 2024

At least two prison officers have been killed in France after a van carrying inmates was ambushed by masked gunmen to free a suspected drug trafficker nicknamed ‘The Fly’.

The van was attacked by men armed with pump-action rifles at around 11am on the A154 motorway near the Incarville tollbooth, located in the town of Val-de-Reuil, Normandy, northern France. Authorities have confirmed two guards have been killed while another three are seriously injured.

MailOnline will provide live updates as French police launch a manhunt to find the assailants and detainee

Pictures: The France prison van attack

Here are the most striking images following a deadly ambush on a prison van in Normandy in which two guards were killed and one inmate escaped with masked gunmen.

Three prison officers have been shot dead after four gunmen ambushed their vehicle at a French tollbooth, before freeing the inmate and 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.At least three French guards were killed, and two others were left wounded, following the attack which saw the assailants and detainee, Mohamed A, 30, managing to escape the scene.

Manhunt involves hundreds of police officers

A forensic is at work as police officers patrol 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, on May 14, 2024. Two French prison officers were killed and two others wounded on May 14 in an attack on a prison van transporting an inmate who escaped, a police source told AFP. (Photo by ALAIN JOCARD / AFP) (Photo by ALAIN JOCARD/AFP via Getty Images)

The hunt launched to find those behind the prison van attack involves ‘several hundred’ police and military officers following a special operation deployed by France’s interior minister.

Gerald Darmanin wrote on X he had ordered the activation of France’s Epervier plan which is led by the gendarmerie, a military force that is separate from the police.

“All means are being used to find these criminals. On my instructions, several hundred police officers and gendarmes were mobilised,” he said.

The case has been handed to prosecutors from France’s office for the fight against organised crime known by their acronym JUNALCO.

Macron – Everything being done to find perpetrators

French President Emmanuel Macron spoke out following this morning’s attack in which he declared everything possible was being done to find the culprits responsible for the ambush.

Mr Macron released the following statement on X.

The victims: Slain prison officer leaves wife who is five months pregnant

France's Justice Minister Eric Dupond-Moretti delivers a speech during a debate on the constitutional bill aimed at enlarging the electorate of the French province of New Caledonia, at the National Assembly in Paris, on May 13, 2024. On May 13, 2024, 17,000 kilometres from the New Caledonia capital Noumea, the French National Assembly in Paris, will consider a constitutional amendment aimed at broadening the electorate for the archipelago's provincial elections, a reform that is a source of local tension between loyalists and independentists. (Photo by ALAIN JOCARD / AFP) (Photo by ALAIN JOCARD/AFP via Getty Images)

One of the prison guards killed in the prison van ambush in Normandy earlier today leaves a wife wo is five months pregnant, while the other had two children.

French justice minister Eric Dupond-Moretti (pictured above) confirmed one officer was born in 1972, making him 51 or 52, while the younger man was born in 1989, meaning he was 34 or 35.

The men are the first prison officers to be killed in the line of duty since 1992.Neither of them have been named at this point in time.

Moretti said: ‘All my thoughts are with the victims, their families and their colleagues.’

Watch: Moment masked gunmen target prison convoy

This footage captured from a nearby bus passenger shows the moment masked gunmen aimed their weapons at a prison van following an ambush earlier today.

How the attack unfolded: Prisoner sprung near French toll booth

The prison van at the centre of this morning’s ambush was carrying inmates from one detention centre to another between the towns of Rouen and Evreux in Normandy on a route that should have been secret.

The vehicle was attacked by a gang of four men armed Kalashnikovs on the A154 motorway near the Incarville tollbooth, located in the town of Val-de-Reuil.

After the ambush in which an inmate, reported to be Mohammed Amra, fled with the gang who 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.

Police sources initially said three police officers had been killed but authorities later confirmed two had died while three guards were seriously injured.

What we know about Mohammed Amra: The escaped inmate known as The Fly

Inmate Mohammed AmraThree prison officers have been shot dead after four gunmen ambushed their vehicle at a French tollbooth, before freeing the inmate and 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.At least three French guards were killed, and two others were left wounded, following the attack which saw the assailants and detainee, Mohamed A, 30, managing to escape the scene.

Amra (pictured above) has been identified by French media as the detainee who escaped from the prison van when it was attacked by masked gumnen earlier today.

Here’s what we know about him:

Amra was reportedly sentenced to 18 months in prison last Tuesday following a burglary offence and he has a previous conviction for attempted murder.
A police source told the Le Parisien newspaper that Amra was ‘the head of a narcotics network’ in France, and is considered hugely dangerous.
The French publication also reported Amra attempted to escape his prison cell just two days before today’s escape and that he was allegedly placed in solitary confinement as his surveillance was increased.
According to BFMTV, Amra was jailed by a court in Normandy after thefts from supermarkets and businesses in the suburbs of Évreux between August and October 2019.
He is also said to have been indicted for attempted homicide in Saint-Étienne du-Rouvray.

Everything we know so far on the France prison van attack

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, on May 14, 2024. Three French prison officers were killed and two others wounded on May 14 in an attack on a prison van transporting an inmate who escaped, a police source told AFP. (Photo by ALAIN JOCARD / AFP) (Photo by ALAIN JOCARD/AFP via Getty Images)

Here’s what we know so far about the France prison van attack:

The prison van was attacked after 11am on the A154 motorway near the Incarville tollbooth, located in the town of Val-de-Reuil, Normandy
French justice minister Eric Dupond-Moretti has confirmed two guards were killed and three left seriously injured while an inmate named Mohammed Amra escaped
The prisoner, reportedly nicknamed ‘La Mouche’ or The Fly, was being transported between the towns of Rouen and Evreux in Normandy at the time of the attack.
French media has report Amra was sentenced to 18 months in prison last Tuesday for theft offences but is also suspected of attempted murder.
French president Emmanuel Macron described the attack as a ‘shock for all of us’ in a statement on X.

We will bring you the latest developments on this story as we get them.

Here’s Taryn Pedler and Peter Allan’s story of the terrifyuing moment masked gunmen ambushed a prison van near a tollbooth in northern France.

Footage captured by a bus passenger shows the armed assailants aiming their weapns at the prison van as the attack unfolded.

Good afternoon

We are bringing you live updates as police in France launch a manhunt following the ambush of a van carrying prisoners by masked gunmen which resulted in the deaths of at least two prison officers.

French authorities said three prison officers were seriously injured when their van was attacked after 11am on the A154 motorway near the Incarville tollbooth, located in the town of Val-de-Reuil, Normandy, northern France.

We will bring you the latest developments on this breaking news story.