[guest post by Dana]
Horrible news from Paris:
A deaf civilian police worker who had recently converted to Islam was shot dead in Paris today after murdering four colleagues with a ceramic knife following a ‘dispute over working with female colleagues’.
Michael Harpon, 45, caused the bloodbath in the French capital’s historic Police Prefecture, next door to Notre Dame Cathedral.
Investigators have not ruled out a possible terrorist motivation for the Thursday afternoon attack, which left a woman and three men dead.
All were repeatedly stabbed by Harpon, who had worked in the IT department at the Prefecture since 2003, in the worst loss of French police lives in a single day since World War II.
The report goes on to say that because Harpon had refused to interact with women, he had been recently reprimanded by his female boss as a result. Harpon converted to Islam in 2018.
Moreover, Christophe Crépin, spokesman for the union France Police Policeman in Anger, told reporters that he had known Harpon:
I know this man. He worked in IT and he had long-running problems with his superior. He stabbed her first and then colleagues intervened and were stabbed as well. I am told he then got hold of a firearm.
Prayers for the families who have lost their loved ones today.
–Dana