Knifeman shot dead by police after ‘blindly’ stabbing five people in Marseille hotel bloodbath

A man armed with two knives and an iron pipe was shot dead by police as he rampaged through central Marseille.

Five people were stabbed, leaving one clinging to life in hospital, after the spree was triggered by suspect angry at being kicked out of his hotel.

The suspect, a legal Tunisian national, who was staying in a hotel in the Belsunce district of the French city, was evicted from the hotel because he was not paying his rent, Marseille public prosecutor Nicolas Bessone said.

But the man returned, went up to his old room, and stabbed the person who was occupying his previous room.

Forensic police officers work at the site where French police shot dead a man suspected of stabbing five people in the centre of the southern port city of Marseille
(Picture: AFP)

On his way back down to the hotel lobby, the man stabbed the hotel manager one or more times and then chased the manager’s son down the street, stabbing him in the back.

The knifeman then entered a nearby snack bar, where he attempted to ‘blindly and gratuitously’ attack customers.

 Two other people were injured by baton blows.

Armed police shouted at him to drop his weapons, according to Bessone. ‘He didn’t comply, and they used their weapons and neutralised him,’ the prosecutor said.

French Interior Minister Bruno Retailleau was expected to travel to Marseille later on Tuesday. The port city is plagued by gang violence and drug-related crime.

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