Two French prison officers were killed in a brazen attack on a prison convoy in Normandy on Tuesday, as suspected drug lord Mohammed Amra, known as 'The Fly', escaped alongside four armed accomplices. The victims, Fabrice Moelle, 52, and Arnaud Garcia, 35, were shot dead with automatic weapons at a motorway toll booth in Val-de-Reuil.
French Justice Minister Éric Dupond-Moretti described the killings as 'slaughtered like dogs by men for whom life means nothing.' Surveillance footage captured the gang firing over 30 rounds, with one member delivering a 'double tap' shot to ensure a victim was dead. Three other officers remain in intensive care, one with a bullet in the forehead.
Garcia's father, Dominique, told French media that his son was about to become a father for the first time. 'My son loved his job. He was going to be a father,' he said. 'I just can't bring myself to believe it.'
Amra, 30, with 13 convictions, was being escorted back to prison after a court appearance in Rouen. He is the suspected boss of a narcotics network and has been indicted for ordering an assassination in Marseille in 2022. The attackers used an Audi A5 and a BMW 5 series, both later found burned out.
A manhunt is underway led by the elite GIGN unit. Prosecutors have opened an inquiry for murder and attempted murder by an organised gang, escape, and weapons offences. Prison officer unions protested on Wednesday, citing increasing dangers, following a Senate report warning of the 'Mexicanisation' of France's drug trade.
