The local prosecutor said two investigations into an attempted arson and the death of an unidentified suspect were ongoing.
French police have shot dead a gunman suspected of setting fire to a synagogue in the northern city of Rouen, authorities said.
On Friday, police responded around 6:45 a.m. (0445 GMT) after smoke was reported at the synagogue. A man present on the scene, equipped with a knife and a crowbar, allegedly threatened a police officer, who then “used his weapon”, said the Rouen prosecutor.
The man was not immediately identified.
The former Minister of the Interior, Gérald Darmanin, posted on X that the armed individual had been “neutralized”.
Two investigations were underway, the first into the arson of a place of worship and “intentional violence” against police officers, and the second into the man’s death, according to the prosecutor.
The National Anti-Terrorism Prosecutor’s Office said it was assessing whether it would take up the case, the AFP news agency reported.
Nicolas Mayer-Rossignol, mayor of Rouen, said the attack on the synagogue had not only affected worshipers, but the entire city was “bruised and in shock.”
There were no other casualties, he said, posting to X from the scene.
“Tonight is the start of the Sabbath and it is important to light the candles to show that we are not afraid,” the chief rabbi of Rouen, Chmouel Lubecki, told the BFMTV news channel.
High Alert
France has the largest Jewish community of any country after Israel and the United States, as well as the largest Muslim community in Europe. Tensions escalated after the start of the Israeli war in Gaza on October 7 following an attack by Hamas in southern Israel.
Red graffiti was painted on the French Holocaust Memorial earlier this week, sparking anger, notably from President Emmanuel Macron, who condemned “abhorrent anti-Semitism”.
“Attempting to burn down a synagogue is an attempt to intimidate all Jews. Once again, we are trying to impose a climate of terror on the Jews in our country. Combating anti-Semitism means defending the Republic,” wrote Yonathan Arfi, president of the Representative Council of Jewish Institutions of France (CRIF), on X.
In 2016, Rouen was rocked by an attack later claimed by the Islamic State (ISIL) when a priest was killed with a knife while on duty in the town of Saint-Etienne-du-Rouvray, in the south of the Rouen metropolitan area.
France welcomes the Summer Olympics in two months and recently raised its alert status to the highest level in the current geopolitical context.
