Police are hunting a “very dangerous” man who forced his way into a retirement home for monks overnight and stabbed a woman to death, a French prosecutor said Friday.
Montpellier prosecutor Christophe Barret told reporters police had been called to the Maison des Chênes Verts in Montferrier-sur-Lez, near the city of Montpellier in the greater French province of Lyon, at 10:45 p.m. local time.
The alarm was raised by a nurse at the home who told police she had been tied up by a male attacker. She had managed to free herself to make the call, Barret said.
Officers then discovered the body of a woman in the laundry room.
She had been stabbed several times with a knife, resulting in her death, the prosecutor said. An autopsy will take place later Friday.
Prosecutor: No known link to terrorism
The motivation for the attack is still unknown but police have no reason to connect it to terrorism, the prosecutor said.
“What counts right now is to find this man as quickly as possible. He is very dangerous,” said Barret.
Police found an air rifle a bag in a car left near the building, he said, adding that it was “not a real weapon.” Other items were also found in the bag but he was not at liberty to say what they were, the prosecutor said.
The clues haven’t enabled police to find the suspect, Barret said.
French media reports have said the suspect was masked and armed with a sawn-off shotgun. The prosecutor did not confirm those details.
The Society of African Missions, a Catholic missionary congregation that operates mostly in Africa, oversees the retirement home, where about 60 people live.
None of the home’s residents were hurt in the attack, Barret said.
Most of the residents of the home were still asleep as the police entered the building, a source close to the operation told CNN.
Lack of security?
French commercial radio station RTL interviewed a man who said he was the husband of the victim. The man, identified only as Georges, criticized a lack of security at the home, saying there was no alarm or guard on the door.
He said his wife was a care worker in her 50s who worked the overnight shift. She was very kind, he said, adding that he was “destroyed” by her death.
“She had no problem with anyone, she was friendly to everyone and always helpful,” he said.
A local government spokeswoman said all the residents had been evacuated to safety.