French police have arrested three men in connection with the murder a police officer and police secretary at their home near Paris.
The arrests followed raids in a Parisian suburb where the killer – a self confessed jihadist once lived.
Larossi Abballa pledged allegiance to ISIL in a video uploaded inside the victims’ home before he was shot dead by officers.
Jean-Baptiste Salvaing (42)and his partner, Jessica Schnieder (36) were stabbed in their home. Their 3-year-old son was found shocked but unharmed.
The family had not, it seems, been the only targets. According to police a list was found inside the house which included rap singers, journalists, police and public personalities.
Police also seized “three telephones, three knives, and in particular a bloody knife resting on the table.”
In Abballa’s car, parked beside the house, police reportedly found a Koran, a white robe and three religious books.
Reacting to the police killings, President Francois Hollande said France had mobilised considerable force against what he called “the very substantial terrorist threat confronting the country in order to defend French principles and values but also to fight Islamic terrorism and fanaticism everywhere.”
With Abballa previously known to police, some French conservatives have called for stricter measures.However Prime Minister Manuel Valls reacted angrily…
He firmly rejected calls for the death penalty or a Guantanamo style prison or weapons sales because he knew what could be the result of such a model.
A minutes silence was then held by members of the National Assembly for the victims.