Kermiche and accomplice Abdel-Malik Nabil Petitjean – both 19 – were killed by police as they left the church.
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France’s main religious leaders sent a message of unity and solidarity after meeting Wednesday with French President Francois Hollande a day after two extremists attacked a Catholic church and slit the throat of an elderly priest in front of other hostages. A security official confirmed that he was the unidentified man pictured on a photo distributed to French police on July 22 with a warning that he could be planning an attack.
Petitjean was born in eastern France, in Saint-Die-des-Vosges, but recently lived in the Alpine town of Aix-les-Bains where his mother lives, the prosecutor’s office said.
An 86-year-old woman, one of five held hostage Tuesday at the Normandy church, said the attackers had handed her husband Guy a cellphone and demanded that he take photos or video of the priest after he was killed.
One of the attackers has been identified by authorities as 19-year-old Adel Kermiche, who investigators said had twice attempted to travel to Syria, the nation from which ISIS is based.
First, according to a French security official, France received a report from Turkish counterparts that Petitjean was seen passing through a Turkish airport June 10 destined for Syria.
France had also been alerted by a foreign intelligence service that a suspected militant might be preparing an attack, with a nameless photo of Petitjean circulated among intelligence services.
It is not clear what caused Petitjean to turn around.
The UCLAT flyer, obtained by The Associated Press, advised police its information came from a trusted source.
Islamic State’s Amaq news agency released a video of one of two teenagers who killed a priest in a church in France this week calling for more attacks in France and other countries of a coalition waging a campaign against the militant group.
Meanwhile, the French anti-terrorism coordinating agency UCLAT issued a photo of Petitjean July 22 to police warning that he “could be ready to participate in an attack on national territory”.
The archbishop of Paris, Cardinal Andre Vingt-Trois, called on Catholics to “overcome hatred that comes in their heart” and not to “enter the game” of the Islamic State group that “wants to set children of the same family upon each other”.
A Tunisian delivery man plowed his heavy goods truck through a crowd in Nice on Bastille Day killing 84 people.
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With the attack threat for the country ranked extremely high, Interior Minister Bernard Cazeneuve said France is working to protect 56 remaining summer events and may consider cancelling some. Kermiche was from Saint-Etienne-du-Rouvray.
