French 'backpack hero' used faith against Abdelmasih Hanoun
A young man who fought a crazed attacker who stabbed four kids in a French park credited his Catholic faith for giving him the guts to jump in and help.
The 24-year-old dubbed the “backpack hero” or “le héros au sac a dos” by French media, told reporters Friday he was a modern-day pilgrim traveling around French cathedrals when he spotted the man attacking little kids in a stroller with a switchblade knife.
“I let myself be guided by providence and the Virgin Mary. I said my adieu,” the man known only as Henri said, adding of his divine influences, “They would decide what would happen.”
Other young people had also pursued the attacker, Henri noted.
“We tried to scare him and make clear he could not do what he wanted,” he said.
Two adults and four children were injured in the attack.
Henri swung and hurled his backpack at the assailant, who had lunged at parents and the children, all 3 or younger, on Thursday.
Police said they arrested a Syrian refugee in the attack.
The 24-year-old man, known only as “Henri,” said he called on his Catholic faith to try to stop the crazed attacker on the playground in Annecy, France. REUTERS
The suspect, Abdelmasih Hanoun, a recently divorced father of one, has undergone a psychiatric examination after the harrowing attack.
The victims included a critically injured 3-year-old British girl, a 22-month-old Dutch boy, and two French cousins, aged 2 and 3.
Also wounded in the rampage were two adults, one of whom is a 78-year-old grandfather who was hit by a shot fired by police as they pursued the attacker, officials said.
On Friday, French Prime Minister Elisabeth Borne said that all four children were in stable condition after they underwent surgery for their life-threatening wounds.
A woman kneels before flowers, candles, and toys left at the Le Paquier park in Annecy last Thursday. REUTERS
Teddy bears were among the toys left at Le Paquier Park after the attack by a knife-wielding Syrian suspect. REUTERS
They are “under constant medical surveillance,” she said.
The suspect reportedly yelled, “In the name of Jesus Christ!” during the attack.
They said he’d been carrying Christian insignia. Henri said that made no sense, Reuters reported.
“It is profoundly un-Christian to attack the vulnerable,” he said. “The entire Christian civilization on which our country is built is a knightly message to defend widows and orphans. I think that, on the contrary, something very bad inhabited him.”
French President Emmanuel Macron and his wife Brigitte Macron arrive at the local prefecture in Annecy, the day after several children and adults were injured in a knife attack at the Le Paquier park. REUTERS
Henri said he had to revisit the grisly details of the attack, which occurred in the picturesque Alpine town of Annecy, 60 miles outside Grenoble, during a three-hour statement to police.
“I now have all these horrible images in my head. I need to try and turn that into something positive,” he said.
French President Emmanuel Macron met Friday with victims of the attack and also addressed a group that included Henri, according to The New York Times.
Henri vowed to continue his months-long walking tour, saying he planned to show social media followers “how the beauty of the cathedrals can nourish us and help us do the right thing.”
“Because of these events, I will be able to reach more people. I thank heaven,” he told BFM television.
Source: New York Post
