A national tribute to Arnaud Garcia and Fabrice Moello, chaired by Gabriel Attal, was held at noon on Wednesday in Caen

After the shock of the attack, it was time to reflect. On Wednesday 22 May, Prime Minister Gabriel Attal led a ceremony in Caen (Calvados) to honour the two prison guards killed on 14 May in the attack on a prison van at the Incarville toll plaza (Eure).

‘We will not forget them, we will not abandon them’, said the Prime Minister in his speech, promising that ‘their deaths will not go unpunished’ while the suspects are still at large. ‘The sword of justice will not tremble, we owe it to you’, he concluded.

Before the ceremony scheduled for midday at Caen’s former prison, Gabriel Attal met the victims’ families at 11.15am, away from the cameras. Around fifty prison guards from all over France attended the ceremony to represent the profession.

Emmanuel Macron replaced at the last minute

The French President, who was initially due to preside over the ceremony, cancelled his trip to Noumea because of the crisis in New Caledonia. He did, however, meet the families of the victims on Tuesday afternoon before his departure.

Arnaud Garcia, a brigadier supervisor, and Fabrice Moello, a prison captain, were posthumously made knights of the Legion of Honour, according to a decree published on Wednesday in the Journal officiel.