The 32-year-old suspect was arrested overnight, according to the prosecution.

The three young men killed are aged 16, 18 and 20, Angers prosecutor Éric Bouillard told AFP.

The brawl, which took place in three stages, reportedly broke out around 1:00 a.m. in the city center of Angers and ended shortly before 3:00 a.m. on the Coeur de Maine esplanade, near the castle of Angers.

At 2:50 a.m., “the Angers police services were requested following an altercation taking place in the heart of Maine,” said the prosecutor in a press release, released on Saturday morning.

“On the spot, they discovered a large and sometimes aggressive crowd, with projectiles thrown at the intervening services. Each victim of a stab wound to the chest, three people in cardiorespiratory arrest were taken care of by the emergency services” but were to die quickly, continued the magistrate.

“The person designated as being the author of the stab wounds” was first arrested “by people present” on the scene, then suffering “violence before being taken care of by the municipal police and then the emergency services” , according to the press release. “Currently hospitalized, she is placed in police custody but is not in a state to speak for the moment,” said Mr. Bouillard.

– “Fear and sadness” –

“Subject to future developments in the investigation, a first altercation would have occurred around 1:00 a.m. Ousted by the group of victims, the defendant would later have returned armed to attack them”, according to the same source.

The investigation was entrusted to the police of the departmental security of Angers.

“Fright and sadness after the brawl in

“Shocked by the deadly attack that took place last night in

Inaugurated in 2019 and close to the city center, the Coeur de Maine esplanade, where the events took place, is a vast recreational green space of 3,000 m2 on the banks of the Maine River, very busy especially on sunny days.