France Serial Killer: Fear Speads in France After 4 Fatal Shootings in Paris


French authorities are speculating that a serial killer is on the loose in Paris after four people were murdered with the same semi-automatic weapon in a suburb of the capital city.

The murders, which have taken place over the past five months in the Essonne region of Paris, have led police to increase their presence five-fold.

“The main aim is to check suspicious behavior,” senior local official Michel Fuzeau told AFP, saying police would carry out “vehicle checks and identity checks” and respond to any alarms raised by the local population.

He said “several hundred” officers had been mobilized.

In addition to the fact that all four murders appeared to have been committed at the same time of the day, between 4pm and 6pm, authorities are pointing out that there were similarities in the way the murders were executed – especially in the last three cases, in which the victims were all shot in the head.

The first victim, a 35-year-old laboratory assistant, was shot dead in her building on November 27. The most recent victim, a 47-year-old woman, was killed Thursday.

The killer, described by investigators as a “tall European-looking man”, fired three or four shots and fled on a motorcycle, possibly a blue and white Suzuki.

The NY Daily writes that authorities were still trying to establish whether just one person is behind the killings as one suspect was arrested in November – and remains in custody – on suspicion of the first killings.

In addition, questions remain about whether the victims were linked to one another.

The prosecutor said the victims in the first two murders “lived in the same building,” but made no clear link with the other two.

France’s recent serial killer fears come as the country recovers from the shock of the March killings in and around Tolouse, when self-declared Islamist Mohamed Merah shot dead seven people, including three children at a Jewish school, before police shot him after a siege at his apartment.

via CNN
Image: Times Live

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