Severed Head on Gate Belonged to Suspect's Boss

Body was found inside the factory
By Kate Seamons,  Newser Staff
Posted Jun 27, 2015 9:45 AM CDT
Severed Head on Gate Belonged to Suspect's Boss
Police officers guard a road leading to a plant which was attacked on Friday in Saint-Quentin-Fallavier, southeast of Lyon, France, Saturday, June 27, 2015.   (AP Photo/Michel Euler)

Yesterday's attack on a gas plant in Saint-Quentin-Fallavier, France, was made all the more gruesome by the revelation that a severed head was found hanging from the factory's wire fence along with banners with Arabic inscriptions. That head belonged to the alleged attacker's boss, reports Reuters. French officials have named the suspect, who is in custody, as Yassin Sahli; he is a 35-year-old delivery driver, and police say the head found on the fence was that of his 54-year-old boss. The Guardian reports the remainder of the man's body was discovered inside the factory.

Reuters reports that the delivery van had the authorization to enter the site, and prosecutors say Sahli made regular deliveries to the US-owned Air Products factory. After the van passed through the main gates it was filmed speeding up as it barreled toward the warehouse. Sahli was "overpowered" as he tried to open canisters containing a flammable liquid, per Reuters. No one has claimed responsibility for the attack, and as the Guardian puts it, "It remained unclear whether any Islamist motivation for the attack might be mixed with personal grudges." (More terror attack stories.)

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