A security guard who deliberately rammed his car into a crowded pizzeria east of Paris, killing an adolescent girl, told investigators he was a suicidal habitual drug user and had consumed large amounts of medicines, a prosecutor said Tuesday.
Eric de Valroger, a prosecutor in the town of Meaux east of Paris, told a press conference that the driver offered “very complicated, confused” explanations for his act on Monday night. The prosecutor again ruled out terrorism as a motive.
The official said it remains unclear whether the 32-year-old security guard intended to kill when he rammed his BMW into the restaurant in the village of Sept-Sorts that was crowded with about 30 people, both inside and on a terrace outside. The prosecutor said the man simply described the restaurant as an easy and unprotected target for his as-yet unexplained act.
The prosecutor said the suspect — facing aggravated murder charges — told investigators that he had no beef with the owner of the restaurant and that he didn’t know his victims. The prosecutor said the investigation promises to be long. The driver showed apparent signs of paranoia, suspecting that he was being persecuted and followed.
The driver was immediately arrested in what was the latest of several attacks in France and elsewhere using a vehicle as a weapon.
The prosecutor said the man was convicted in 2010 for drunk driving. He told investigators that he was a habitual drug user, having started to abuse drugs since the age of nine.
Tests showed that the driver had consumed drugs but no alcohol before he drove into the restaurant, travelling so fast that the car was lodged inside.
A 44-year-old woman who was among the gravely injured is still in danger, the prosecutor said. But others, including a 3-year-old boy who was flown by helicopter to a Paris children’s hospital, are out of immediate danger, he added.
The boy’s adolescent sister was killed. The prosecutor said their father was also injured.
The Associated Press contributed to this article.