Pictured: Five victims of ‘angel of demise’ French gunman, 22, who went on rampage at Dunkirk migrant camp after ‘taking pictures man in entrance of his spouse and youngsters’
The five victims of a local French gunmen dubbed the ‘angel of death’ who went on a rampage near a Dunkirk migrant camp have been pictured.
Paul D., 22, killed his former boss, transport company chief Paul Dekeister, 29, in front of his wife and two children at his home in Wormhout, near Dunkirk, on Saturday afternoon in ‘what looked like a targeted assassination’, according to local media.
An investigating source said: ‘The killer arrived at the Dekeister’s farmhouse at around 3pm on Saturday and killed Mr Dekeister in front of his family. Mr Dekeister had employed the suspect in a security capacity, and was involved in a dispute.
‘After the killing, the suspect got into his car and made his way to the area around the migrant camp at Loon-Plage. It is thought that he had a grudge against the migrants living along the coast, and wanted to settle some scores.’
Paul D. then saw two Kurds, reportedly aged 19 and 30, standing by the side of a road, close to the migrant camp at Loon-Plage, and shot them both at point-blank-range. The killer ‘left them no chance of survival’, the source told local media.
A 25-year-old Kurdish migrant named Matin who was with the two victims when the gunmen ‘showered them with bullets’ with a shotgun told Sky News: ‘Initially, we thought he would fire in the air and then he loaded the gun and aimed at us.
‘We saw Azrael [the Islamic Angel of Death]. We saw death with our own eyes. It was God’s will that we survived. In one day, we saw death twice.’
The alleged killer later shot dead two security guards – identified as father-of-two Marc Lehmhus, 37, and Aurélien Cugny, 33, – working at the Eamus Cork Security company, which assists the police in patrolling the northern French coast.
The first victim of the gun rampage migrant killer in France has been pictured. Paul Dekeister, 29, was gunned down in front of his wife and other family members
The alleged killer then shot dead two security guards, one of whom was identified as father-of-two Marc Lehmhus, 37, (pictured with one of his children)
The other security guard was identified as Aurélien Cugny, 33, who worked at the Eamus Cork Security security company, which assists the police in patrolling the northern French coast
The security guards had a dog with them at the time, and the animal was unharmed.
They had been travelling in their own vehicle, but Paul D. reportedly persuaded them to get out, before killing them.
The gunman claimed to be a ‘former colleague’ of the dead security guards, who he killed following a ‘long-running dispute with the security company’, according to local media.
All those killed received ‘precise shots to the head, suggesting the killer had a lot of experience with firearms,’ the investigating source said.
Special forces police were called to a camp on the Mardyck Road soon after 4pm on Saturday afternoon, following early reports of ‘a lone gunman killing people.’
A source said that all the shootings took place within less than an hour of each other.
The gunman then drove some eight miles to the coastal town Ghyvelde, where he reportedly grew up, and turned himself in to gendarmes at around 5pm, before confessing to all five murders.
His car, a dark grey Berlingo, was parked on Saturday evening in front of the police station gate, in a residential area, AFP noted.
Paul D. then saw two Iraqi Kurds (pictured above in local media outlets), reportedly aged 19 and 30, standing by the side of a road, close to the migrant camp at Loon-Plage, and shot them both at point-blank-range
Bodies were left strewn in the streets of Loon-Plage, close to Dunkirk, after the 22-year-old French gunman went on a horrific shooting rampage on Saturday afternoon
Police cordon off a migrant camp on a road between Mardyck and Loon Beach where two security guards and two migrants were shot dead, near Dunkirk, northern France, on December 14, 2024
Two men and a woman, relatives of the suspect, left the premises shortly before 10pm, without wishing to comment.
Four weapons were found in Paul D.’s car, and he was the legal owner of a Smith and Wesson 44 Remington rifle because he was registered as a hunter, a gendarmerie spokesman said.
Confirming the arrest, a spokesman for Ghyvelde gendarmes said the man ‘was not known to police,’ suggesting he had no previous criminal record.
A neighbour told Le Parisien that she had known Paul D. for 18 years and that she cannot believe that he admitted to killing five people.
‘He is the nicest guy you could ever know. He is a hunter by nature, but he is a nice guy, he is a truck driver,’ she told the outlet.
On Sunday, the Dunkirk prosecutor opened an investigation into a quintuple murder, saying Paul D. is facing life in prison. The alleged killer is currently being held in custody.
The two migrants who were killed have not yet been named by authorities.
Officials have been left ‘stunned’ by the events with local mayor Eric Rommel saying he ‘cannot understand how this could have happened’.
Mr Rommel added: ‘Our thoughts are with the families of the victims in this terrible ordeal.’
