French teacher’s attacker ‘posted photo of severed head on Twitter’, prosecutor says

French prosecutors reveal more details about brutal murder and decapitation of history teacher in Paris

Nine people were in police custody, including members of the alleged perpetrator’s family

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Flowers and candles are laid at the entrance of a school in Conflans-Sainte-Honorine, near Paris, after a teacher was decapitated. Photo: AFP

Published: 3:48am, 18 Oct 2020Updated: 9:33pm, 18 Oct 2020

A suspect shot dead by police after the beheading of a history teacher near Paris was an 18-year-old Chechen refugee unknown to intelligence services who posted a grisly claim of responsibility on social media minutes after the attack, officials said.

France’s anti-terrorism prosecutor’s office said authorities investigating the killing of Samuel Paty in Conflans-Sainte-Honorine on Friday arrested nine suspects, including the teen’s grandfather, parents and 17-year-old brother.

Paty had discussed caricatures of Islam’s Prophet Mohammad with his class, leading to threats, police officials said. Islam prohibits images of the prophet, asserting that they lead to idolatry.

French anti-terrorism prosecutor Jean-Francois Ricard said an investigation for murder with a suspected terrorist motive had been opened.

The Russian embassy in Paris said the suspect was Abdullakh Anzorov, whose family had arrived in France when he was six and requested asylum.

Ricard said the suspect was armed with a knife and an airsoft gun, which fires plastic pellets.

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