Suspect charged in stabbing of 4 French children; victims no longer in life-threatening condition

French judges on Saturday handed preliminary charges of attempted murder to a man suspected of stabbing four young children and two adults in a French Alps park, an attack that reverberated across France and beyond.

The suspect, a 31-year-old Syrian refugee with permanent Swedish residency, has a 3-year-old daughter living in Sweden, regional prosecutor Line Bonnet-Mathis said. Witnesses told investigators that the suspect mentioned his daughter, his wife and Jesus Christ during the attack Thursday targeting a playground in the lakeside town of Annecy.

The victims, who came from multiple countries, are no longer in life-threatening condition, the prosecutor said. The children, between 22 months and 3 years old, remain hospitalized.