Ex-Liverpool striker advised police to shoot Annecy attacker as he ran in direction of him
F
ormer Liverpool and Sunderland striker Anthony Le Tallec has described the second a person began attacking younger kids in a playground within the French Alps on Thursday.
The former footballer, who now coaches in Annecy, claims he shouted at police to shoot the person, allegedly a Syrian refugee, as he ran in direction of him after attacking kids and adults within the park.
Translated to English, Mr Le Tallec mentioned in a sequence of posts on his Instagram story: “I was running by the lake and suddenly I saw dozens of people running in the opposite direction.
“I wondered what was going on.
“A mum said run, run, there’s someone stabbing everyone along the lake. He’s stabbed children. Run, run.
“I was a little surprised, so I continue. Sure enough, I see the guy coming towards me on the grass.
“I could see police officers, five or 10 metres behind him, who couldn’t catch him. He came towards me, so I moved aside and I saw him heading towards elderly people.
“And he attacked the elderly man, stabbed him once and the police were behind him and couldn’t catch him.
“I told the police shoot him, kill him, he’s stabbing everyone.
“So he attacked once, twice, and they started shooting.”
The Frenchman, 38, continued to clarify how the attacker was shot in entrance of him within the park.
He mentioned: “They shot him in front of me and he fell to the ground but the elderly man had already been hit.
“I continued along the lake and saw the kids on the floor. They had been hit. It’s very sad.
“I noticed how slow the police were to react – he had time to stab the elderly man twice.
“It’s sad to see this. It’s crazy to see this in Annecy.”
It has been confirmed 4 kids, one 22-month-old, two two-year-olds and one three-year-old, and two adults had been injured within the assault, with one of many kids a British vacationer.
A father, whose kids had been on the park on a faculty journey on the time of the assault, has described how his kids will not have a “quiet state of mind”.
Translated from French, he mentioned: “We’re in a total panic. We spent two hours without any news, now I know my children are safe.
“All of our lives have been turned upside down because for years we’ve been walking alongside the lake, we made it but now we’re thinking back, now there’s a before and an after.
“The fear in our stomachs, my children will not be living in a quiet state of mind anymore. It happened in front of my children, it was a school trip, it’s chaos.”
One lady, Eleanor Vincent, who has been within the city for the final 5 days on vacation, was on the scene as police started to cordon off the park.
She advised Sky News: “The police were there very quickly, the area was cordoned off.
“I did not see the crime scene thank heavens, but I did see the aftermath because I stayed in the area for about 45 minutes just trying to take in what had happened and to take some photos to be able to document what was going on.”