Swiss authorities open criminal investigation over menacing school intruder
Canton Neuchâtel's public prosecutor's office has opened a criminal investigation into the "threatening" young man who broke into a primary school in Cortaillod on Friday.
The suspect is a young man of Algerian origin, aged around 25.
The man was known by several different identities and to several police forces in other European countries, mainly for acts of violence, the public prosecutor’s office and the cantonal police said on Saturday.
The man had arrived in Switzerland on Wednesday by train in Geneva. On the same day, he went to the Federal Reception Centre in Boudry to lodge an asylum application. In view of his mental state, he underwent medical (psychiatric) treatment at RHNe (Neuchâtel Hospital Network), where he was kept overnight for observation.
He was taken back to Boudry on Thursday afternoon. Because of his “agitated” behaviour, staff at the centre alerted the medical team. However, the young man did not follow up the appointment with centre staff.
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