The presence of a killer of homeless people in France has been one of the most followed news in the country for several weeks. It seems that the police may have taken a significant step in solving the case after the arrest of a man suspected of killing four homeless people in France and seriously injuring another in The Netherlands, reports Afp.
The man, who identified himself as a 32-year-old Cameroonian with an order to leave French territory, was arrested on Tuesday night on a train near Toulon, in the south.
He is suspected of killing a homeless person of Moldovan nationality by hitting them with a concrete block on Monday in Lyon, in the southeast of the country, according to police sources.
He is also suspected of committing homicides "using the same modus operandi" in Evry, near Paris, Dijon (east), and in Strasbourg (northeast), as well as an attempted murder in the Dutch city of Rotterdam.
According to another police source, the suspect only targeted homeless people, and the crimes for which he was arrested were committed in recent weeks.
The homeless person of Moldovan nationality was found dead on Monday morning in Lyon with a severe head wound and a bloodied concrete block next to them.
A surveillance camera recorded a man hitting them on the head. A murder investigation was opened.
Analyses, mainly DNA tests, are being conducted to determine if the detainee is indeed the perpetrator of these crimes, according to a judicial source.
French security forces cooperated with those in Rotterdam, where a homeless person was violently attacked in the early hours of November 5.
Following the arrest in Toulon, the Dutch police specified that they are investigating "to determine if the suspect is linked to the Rotterdam attack." "At the moment, we cannot confirm it," said their spokesperson Janine Tuinfort to AFP.