PARIS — A 24-year-old computer science student suspected of planning an imminent attack on at least one church and of involvement in the murder of a woman was taken into custody in Paris over the weekend, the French authorities said on Wednesday.
The student was arrested on Sunday, and the police found heavy weapons, handguns, ammunition and bulletproof vests in his home and car, Interior Minister Bernard Cazeneuve said at a news conference on Wednesday.
Mr. Cazeneuve did not identify the student, nor the church or churches that he was believed to be targeting.
“Detailed documents were also found, establishing without any doubt that the individual was planning an imminent attack, most likely against one or two churches,†Mr. Cazeneuve said. “That attack was avoided on Sunday morning.â€
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Mr. Cazeneuve said the student had sustained a gunshot wound Sunday, before his arrest, but did not detail how or why he had been wounded.
The interior minister said the authorities were aware that the student wanted to leave for Syria, and that he had been flagged by police services as a security risk. But Mr. Cazeneuve added that checks made in the past two years found nothing to warrant the opening of a judicial investigation.
The student was also involved in the murder of a 32-year-old woman in a suburb south of Paris, Mr. Cazeneuve said. The woman, identified as Aurélie Chatelain, was found dead in her parked car in the town of Villejuif on Sunday.
Mr. Cazeneuve said Ms. Chatelain, the mother of a 5-year-old girl, was from northern France and was in Paris for a professional training program. Mr. Cazeneuve did not indicate whether the authorities were aware of any links between the student and Ms. Chatelain.
The Paris prosecutor who will take the lead on the investigation, François Molins, was expected to hold a news conference on Wednesday afternoon.
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