A driver accused of causing carnage by ploughing into 10 people on a holiday island before screaming ‘Allahu Akbar’ was tonight identified as ‘a white Caucasian Frenchman’ who grew up in the Dordogne.
Jean Guillot, 35, was in custody accused of ‘attempted murder’ following the Wednesday morning rampage on Oléron, off France‘s western Atlantic coast.
Two people were left fighting for their lives in hospital, and three others in a ‘very serious’ condition, following 35–minutes of terror.
There were fears that Guillot might be linked to a terrorist organisation because he was heard to say ‘Allahu Akbar’ – Arabic for ‘God is the Greatest’ and an expression often used by groups such as Al–Qaeda and Isis.
But photos posted on Guillot’s social media accounts show a ‘white Caucasian Frenchman’ with no obvious links to Islamism, said an investigating source.
Instead, the suspect grew up in the village of Mayac, near Périgueux, in the Dordogne, and at one point said he wanted ‘to be baptised’ into Christianity.
He also revealed that he had only got his driving licence in May, after passing his test in 2010, writing: ’15 years later, it was time.’
Guillot, who is 6ft 3ins and blonde haired, was said to be a heavy drinker and cannabis user, with ‘psychiatric problems,’ said the investigating source.
Jean Guillot, 35, was in custody accused of ‘attempted murder’ following the Wednesday morning rampage on Oléron, off France ‘s western Atlantic coast
He lived alone in a mobile home in La Cotinière, a village close to wear the car attack took place, and had convictions for ‘theft, violence, property damage, traffic offences, and drug use,’ said the investigating source.
Among those hit by the car Guillot was said to be driving was a far–Right politician who was out jogging.
Emma Vallain, 22 and a parliamentary aide and youth activist with the National Rally, was airlifted to intensive care.
She was believed to be the worst injured among those hit before Guillot was tasered by police as he set light to his car.
It was while being taken into custody, after the attack, that police heard him shouting ‘Allhua Akbar’.
Arnaud Laraize, the public prosecutor in nearby Le Rochelle, said specialist anti–terrorist judges had not been informed, and a criminal investigation for ‘attempted murder’ had instead been launched.
Ms Vallain was out exercising just three days after her first appearance on TV as a leading youth activist with the National Rally (RN).
She is parliamentary assistance to veteran MP Pascal Markowsky, 72, who said: ‘Emma was jogging on a quiet road, a few hundred meters from the beach.
‘She lost consciousness immediately but was later able to speak – she was able to say her name, which for us is the best sign. I hope everything will turn out well for her.
‘She is undoubtedly one of the most affected by this event, and we are eagerly awaiting, I hope, good news.’
Mr Markowsky said his colleague’s ‘face was known’ following her appearance on France 3 on Sunday, when she was the RN representative on a programme called ‘Young People in Politics’.
During the attack, pedestrians and cyclists were flung to the ground on a main road between the villages of Dolus and Saint–Pierre, on Oléron.
Eye–witness Isabelle Romain said she saw a ‘woman lying on her stomach, who was no longer moving and who was in an unnatural position.’
Ms Romain said, ‘I deduced that she was dead’, adding: ‘ She’s from a very well–known local family.’
A test on the driver for alcohol proved negative, said a local police spokesman.
The decision not to pursue a terrorist motive led to angry protests by the RN, with party MP Sébastien Chenu saying in the National Assembly: ‘There is an urgent need to define what Islamism is. The suspect shouted Allahu Akbar when he was arrested.’
Laure Lavalette, another RN MP said on X: ‘The horror on Oléron Island where an individual deliberately rammed several bicycles and pedestrians.
Photos posted on Guillot’s social media accounts show a ‘white Caucasian Frenchman’ with no obvious links to Islamism, said an investigating source
‘To the loved ones of the victims, including Emma, a colleague of RN deputy Pascal Markowsky, who was urgently evacuated to intensive care, we send our deepest thoughts.’
And Yaël Braun–Pivet, President of the National Assembly, said: ‘I also wish to express my solidarity with Member of Parliament Pascal Markowsky and his parliamentary team, one of whose members was seriously injured. Justice must be served with all necessary clarity and resolve.’
Jordan Bardella, leader of the National Rally, accused the driver of ‘blind and deliberate violence.’
Mr Bardella posted on X: ‘All my thoughts are with the people injured this morning on the island of Oléron.
‘We hope for a favourable and rapid improvement in their condition. The perpetrator of this blind and deliberate violence must be given an exemplary sentence.’
Those hurt ranged in age from 22 to 67 years old, and came from Saint–Pierre–d’Oléron and Dolus–d’Oléron.
France’s Interior Minister, Laurent Nuñez, travelled to Oléron ‘at the request of the Prime Minister’.
The three worst hurt victims were airlifted to the University Hospital of Poitiers, with two rushed to intensive care.
The unspoiled Ile d’Oléron is one of the most beautiful in France, and hugely popular with holidaymakers from the UK.
It is the second largest island in France, after Corsica, and is 19miles in length and 5 miles wide.
Crisscrossed by cycle paths, Oléron features pine forests, dunes and sandy beaches, as well as numerous fishing ports.
It follows a series of bomb, gun and knife attacks carried out by Islamic State and al–Qaeda operatives across France, including ones involving vehicles being used as weapons.
In July 2016, 86 people were called and more than 400 injured when a 19 tonne truck was deliberately driven into crowds on the seafront promenade at Nice, on the Mediterranean coast.
