Saturday's Knife Attacker In Paris Identified By Police

Police have identified the man who stabbed a German-Filipino tourist on Saturday, who died of a heart attack as a result, and injured two others all the while yelling "Allahu Akbar"--Arabic for "God is greatest". French police have opened a terror investigation into the attack. The attacker was named as Armand Rajabpour-Miyandoab, 26, the son of Iranian immigrants and, of course, a known radical Islamist. Three people "close to" the murderer have also been arrested. The Daily Mail article observes that "[t]he 26-year-old had previously been sentenced in 2016 to four years in prison for a failed attack in the Paris business district of La Defense, and Darmanin confirmed the suspect had officially been on an 'S-list', for surveillance." The article adds:

    Rajabpour-Miyandoab was let out of prison early in 2020, and left to live at home with his parents, in the Essonne region south of Paris, while undergoing 'psychiatric and neurological treatment'. 

    He told police he could not stand Muslims being killed in 'Afghanistan and Palestine' and accused France of being 'an accomplice to what Israel is doing' in the Gaza Strip, Darmanin added.

    Investigators will scrutinise his medical history, a security source told AFP, saying the attacker was 'very unstable and easily influenced'.

    Rajabpour-Miyandoab was 'being monitored in a way that did not mean he was being hospitalised, and was supposed to follow a course of treatment' for his mental health issues, said Aurélien Rousseau, the French health minister.

The article further relates: 

    Police and security sources confirmed the attacker had claimed responsibility in a social media video as he struck, speaking about 'current events, the government (and) the murder of innocent Muslims'.

    A German-Filipino nurse, 24, suffered a heart attack following the assault in front of his wife and another female friend, as a taxi driver intervened to keep the attacker away from his wife.

    Patrick Pelloux, an emergency doctor on duty at the time of the attack, said the couple were both nurses, adding that the woman was severely shocked but unhurt.

    A 66-year-old British citizen was on holiday in Paris and - like all the other victims - was thought to have been a complete stranger to Rajabpour-Miyandoab before a knife was plunged into his right eye.

    The terrorist then hit a 60-year-old French father who was out walking with his wife and child around the head with a hammer.