Manhunt underway in France after gunmen ambush prison van, kill guards, free inmate
Global News
A massive manhunt is underway in France after armed men ambushed a prison van, killing two guards to free an inmate. France's justice minister swore police would capture them.
At least two French prison guards were shot dead and three others seriously injured on Tuesday after heavily armed men ambushed a prison van to free an inmate, French police said, triggering a major manhunt.
The orchestrated attack, which comes amid rising drug-linked violence across Europe, took place Tuesday morning at a toll booth in Incarville in northern France. The inmate and the attackers escaped, police said.
Interior Minister Gérald Darmanin said a major manhunt had been launched.
“All means are being used to find these criminals. On my instructions, several hundred police officers and gendarmes were mobilized,” he wrote on X, formerly Twitter.
Justice Minister Éric Dupond-Moretti said two of the injured officers were in a particularly critical state.
“Absolutely everything will be done to find the perpetrators of this despicable crime,” he told BFM TV.
“These are people for whom life means nothing. They will be arrested, judged and punished according to the crime they committed.”
Images on social media showed at least two men in balaclavas carrying rifles circling near an SUV that was in flames. The SUV appeared to have been rammed into the front of the prison van.