A former security guard who ‘had a grudge against migrants’ is in custody after five men were shot dead near migrant camp in Dunkirk.
The 22-year-old French national, identified as Paul D., admitted murdering five people after two UK-bound migrants, two port security guards and a fifth man were shot dead on Saturday afternoon, police said.
All five murders were committed within less than two hours in the Dunkirk area.
Transport company chief Paul Dekeister, 29, died after being shot in front of his wife and other family members at the nearby town of Wormhout yesterday.
At around 4pm, two security guards, named locally as Marc, a father of two, aged 33, and Aurélien, who was 37, were killed as they patrolled an industrial zone adjacent to the port in Loon-Plage, just west of Dunkirk.
An investigating source said: ‘The killer arrived at the Dekeister’s farmhouse at around 3pm on Saturday and killed Mr Dekeister infront of his family.
‘Mr Dekeister had employed the suspect in a security capacity, and was involved in a dispute.
‘After the killing, the suspect got into his car and made his way to the area around the migrant camp at Loon-Plage.
‘It is thought that he had a grudge against the migrants living along the coast, and wanted to settle some scores.’
Two migrants, who have been identified locally as Hamid and Hadi, were then killed minutes later in Loon-Plage.
Hamid and Hadi had just returned to France after a failed attempt to the English Channel and reach Britain.
The two victims had been in a group of four when they were showered with ‘around 15 bullets,’ according to Martin, a member of the group who spoke to Sky News.
All those killed received ‘precise shots to the head, suggesting the killer had a lot of experience with firearms,’ the investigating source said.
Paul D, who was described as being ‘unknown to authorities before yesterday,’ confessed to five murders after handing himself in to French police in the town of Ghyvelde.
The boot of the suspect’s car was filled with firearms and he was the legal owner of a Smith and Wesson 44 Remington rifle.
Éric Rommel, the Mayor of Loon-Plage, said there was no immediate link established between the security guards and the dead transport manager or the migrants.
Following the attack, a deluge of with police and emergency services vehicles flooded the area, with roadblocks set up, due to fears that the killer might be working with accomplices.
David Calcoen, the Mayor of Wormhout, said: ‘I am stunned by what has happened. ‘I cannot understand how this could have happened.’
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