France jail van assault RECAP: Latest as two guards are killed

The lawyer of the man who escaped following the ramraid in Normandy says he was shocked by the ‘inexcusable’ and ‘insane’ violence used.

Mohamed Amra’s lawyer Hugues Vigier said Amra had already made an escape attempt at the weekend by sawing the bars of his cell.

‘This does not correspond to the impression that I had of him,’ the lawyer told French TV channel BFMTV.

In further remarks reported by the BBC, Mr Vigier added: ‘This violence is unimaginable. My assistant saw Mr Amra this morning.

‘A short meeting, about an hour long was planned for this morning and my assistant saw Mr Amra and he was perfectly normal.

‘I would like to believe that he didn’t know about the plan to free him. That would not change the tragedy that took place but as lawyer I want to believe he didn’t plan this escape.

‘If he’s behind today’s escape he’s a much bigger criminal than what’s he’s been convicted for until now.’

New footage circulating on social media captured the moment a black car smashed into the front of a white police truck before several armed gunmen clad in black appeared to surround the vehicle with their weapons raised.

The assailants can be seen firing at the French police van before one opened a door in an apparent bid to free the detainee holed up inside.

A burnt-out car – allegedly used in the prisoner’s escape – has been towed away by the French authorities.

The attackers had reportedly escaped in a car that was later found near the toll gate when the deadly ambush took place.

Yoan Karar of the FO Justice Union said ‘this is a dark day for prison officers’ as he revealed the dead officers were from the ‘PREJ’ – the centre for judicial extractions.

Despite the fact that prison vans possess electronic toll tags to drive straight through, ‘they often have to slow down and the barrier is a weak spot’.

‘Every day we escort inmates from one establishment to another or to the courthouse to be presented to a judge and unfortunately today one of these teams from the PREJ in Caen was attacked by a heavily-armed team,’ he told French broadcaster BFMTV.

We are awaiting further details of the three prison officers left seriously injured following the attack earlier.

But one line we can bring you is that French justice minister said two of the guards are understood to be in a critical condition.

A new picture taken by AFP shows multiple bullet holes in the van’s windscreen following the ambush by masked gunmen.

Two of the five guards were shot dead.

We can now bring you footage of emergency services at the scene of a prison van ambush which left two guards dead and three seriously injured.

The attack has prompted a nationwide manhunt involving several hundred police and military officers.

Gabriel Attal, France’s Prime Minister, has told the National Assembly that the prison van attack perpetrators will be hunted down and brought to justice as he insisted the country would never back down from violence.

Making a speech in the French Parliament, Mr Attal said the attack was of ‘incredible violence’ owing to the ‘brutality and cowardice’ of the culprits.

It is the Republic which was attacked, our justice, the refusal of impunity which was shot at.

We will spare no effort, no means. We will hunt them down. We will find them. And I tell you, they will pay.

A female eyewitness who was travelling on a bus near the prison van at the time of the attack has told passengers ducked as “lot of gunshots” were fired.

Speaking to the Le Parisien newspaper, the woman said ‘everyone was very scared’ as one passenger got behind the wheel of the bus to reverse it away from the scene.

I still had my headphones in my ears, and suddenly I see that everyone is ducking down on the bus and everyone is going to the back, I took off my headphones and I heard lots of gunshots, big booms too.

Footage from another passenger was captured from the bus which shows two masked gunmen aiming their weapons, believed to be Kalashnikov rifles.

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.

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.

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.

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.’

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.

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.

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.

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.

Read more here:

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.