Abdoullakh Abouyezidovitch A identified as 18 year old Chechen Russian refugee who beheaded Samuel Paty Paris teacher. Had asked kids to point him out moments before brutal murder.
The 18-year-old Chechen man who beheaded a history teacher outside a school, 25 miles north-west of Paris where he taught—asked students in the street to point out his victim before Friday’s slaying, a French prosecutor said Saturday.
The Russian refugee of Chechen origin, Abdoullakh Abouyezidovitch A, also posted a photograph of the teacher’s body on Twitter, accompanied by a message saying he had carried out the killing, anti-terrorist prosecutor Jean-Francois Ricard said during a news conference, Reuters reported.
Abdoullakh A who lived in Evreux (Eure) and had a residence permit issued on March 4 and valid until March 2030, ‘was unknown to the intelligence services’, according to Ricard. ‘On a judicial level, he has never been convicted while being known for cases of degradation of public property and violence in meetings, while he was still a minor,’ announced the prosecutor.
“I rarely saw him and he was often all alone,’ told a 44 year old neighbor via France’s L’Express of the suspect who lived in Evreux, in the Madeleine district.
Continued the neighbor, ‘he was discreet, immersed in religion for three years.
No warning signs of radicalization
Adding, ‘I’m shocked. We may be neighbors, we cannot know people’s lives, here it’s just ‘hello bye’, it stops there.’
Confirmed a local official , ‘he was a carefree youngster, who was educated in Evreux up to high school and who did not show any warning signs of radicalization.’
Adding, ‘There was no problem with this family.’
French police brought nine people in for questioning following the suspected Islamist sympathizer killing the teacher, 47-year-old Samuel Paty, in broad daylight in a Paris suburb, in apparent retaliation for the use of a controversial image of the Prophet Mohammad in his classroom ten days earlier.
The Moscow-born Aboulakh A, who was of Chechen origin ran from the scene after killing Paty but was chased down and fatally shot when he confronted cops with a pellet gun.
Among the nine being questioned are the grandparents, parents and 17-year-old brother of the attacker, The Associated Press reported. Two parents of students at the school where Paty taught were also brought in.
Friday’s attack follows a ‘controversial’ class discussion on freedom of expression, which involved Paty, showing cartoon images of Mohammad published by the satirical magazine Charlie Hebdo, before the publication’s offices were stormed in 2015 by Al Qaeda-linked gunmen, who killed 12. A trial of 14 people charged as accomplices in that attack is underway.
‘What was the message he wanted to send these children?
Using the cartoons angered a number of Muslim parents, even though Paty gave permission to Muslim students to leave the classroom before showing them should they take offense. Muslims believe any depiction of the prophet is blasphemous. At least one parent complained to the school, and Paty received days of threats, the BBC reported.
A week ago, a man by the name of Brahim Chnina who said his daughter was Paty’s student posted a video on social media in which he called others to ‘join forces and say ‘stop, don’t touch our children.’
Continued the irate parent’s post, ‘What was the message he wanted to send these children? Why does a history teacher behave this way in front of 13-year-olds?’ he asked.
Adding, ‘If you want to join forces and say ‘stop, don’t touch our children, then send me a message.’ This thug should not remain in the national education system, should no longer teach our children. He should go educate himself.’
It’s not known whether that parent was being questioned, or if the attacker saw the video.
Come Saturday, colleagues and students paid tribute to the popular teacher outside the school. Many carried white roses and signs that read, ‘Je Suis Enseignant,’ meaning ‘I am a teacher.’
