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France church attack: Second suspect in priest killing named France church attack: Second suspect in priest killing named
(about 1 hour later)
French prosecutors have identified the second man involved in the killing of a priest in a Normandy church on Tuesday as Abdel Malik Petitjean, 19. French prosecutors have identified the second man involved in the killing of a priest in a Normandy church on Tuesday as 19-year-old Abdel Malik Petitjean.
The other attacker had earlier been named as Adel Kermiche, also 19. Like the other attacker, Adel Kermiche, he was known to the security services.
The pair were shot dead by police outside the church in Saint-Etienne-du-Rouvray where they had killed Fr Jacques Hamel, 86, and taken hostages. The teenagers were shot dead by police outside the church in Saint-Etienne-du-Rouvray where they had killed Fr Jacques Hamel, 86, and taken hostages.
So-called Islamic State released a video of what it said were the two men pledging allegiance to the group. So-called Islamic State (IS) released a video of what it said were the two men pledging allegiance to the group.
"Following DNA tests, it emerged that the terrorist has been identified as Abdel Malik Nabil Petitjean," a source in the Paris prosecutor's office said."Following DNA tests, it emerged that the terrorist has been identified as Abdel Malik Nabil Petitjean," a source in the Paris prosecutor's office said.
Petitjean, from eastern France, had been on a radicals' watch list. Police had been looking for him for several days before the attack. Petitjean, from a town in eastern France, had been on a watch list as a potential security threat since June after trying to enter Syria from Turkey.
He had been harder than Kermiche to identify because his body was badly disfigured in the police shooting, but officers found an ID card belonging to him in Kermiche's home and confirmed his identity in a DNA match with his mother.
After Petitjean was named, his mother, Yamina, denied he could have been the killer.
"I know my kid, he is kind. I did not produce a devil. He never talked about IS," she told BFM television.
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An ID card belonging to Petitjean had been found in Kermiche's house but DNA tests were required because his body was disfigured in the police shooting. French media have reported sources close to the investigation as saying anti-terrorism police had been searching for a man in the days before the attack who "strongly resembles" Petitjean, after receiving a tip-off from a foreign intelligence agency about an imminent attack.
The BBC's Hugh Schofield in Paris says it has been reported that Petitjean was the subject of a tip-off received by the French authorities last Friday from an unnamed foreign intelligence agency. The tip-off spoke of a man preparing an attack in the coming days. A photograph of the man said to be planning the attack had been supplied but not his name.
Kermiche was being monitored by police and had been wearing a surveillance tag at the time of the attack. Kermiche, also 19, was being monitored by police and had been wearing a surveillance tag at the time of the attack.
He was arrested twice last year trying to reach Syria. He was arrested twice last year trying to reach Syria and was awaiting trial for alleged membership of a terrorist organisation.
The two attackers stormed the church in Saint-Etienne-du-Rouvray, a suburb of Rouen, during morning Mass.The two attackers stormed the church in Saint-Etienne-du-Rouvray, a suburb of Rouen, during morning Mass.
They slit the throat of the elderly priest before being killed by police.They slit the throat of the elderly priest before being killed by police.
One of four people taken hostage - said to be an elderly parishioner - suffered severe knife wounds.One of four people taken hostage - said to be an elderly parishioner - suffered severe knife wounds.
Prosecutor Francois Molins said the attackers had been carrying a "fake explosive device covered in aluminium foil" along with hand-held weapons when they entered the Catholic church.Prosecutor Francois Molins said the attackers had been carrying a "fake explosive device covered in aluminium foil" along with hand-held weapons when they entered the Catholic church.