Two guards 'shot dead' by armed men breaking out notorious drug lord from jail

A prisoner is on the run after two prison guards transporting him were shot dead. 

A prison van transporting an inmate was ambushed by armed men at around 11am at the Incarville tollbooth in Northern France on Tuesday, May 14.

In the shocking ambush, two prison officers were killed and three were injured, allowing for the escape of fugitive detainee, Mohamed Amra (pictured above), who is known to French courts for drug trafficking.

A source told local media that the 30-year-old, who also goes by “The Fly” is also connected to an attempted homicide case, and is known as “the head of a narcotics network”, reports Le Parisien.

According to reports, the four gunmen and fugitive fled the tollbooth in two vehicles, one of which has since been burnt out. 

Le Figaro reports the getaway car, a white Audi A5, was found burnt in nearby Watteville. The second car, a BMW 5 series, fled the scene in the direction of Louviers and Evreux.

LBC reports that footage shows armed men, in hoodies and dressed in black, surrounding several police vans at the toll booth. One of the vans appeared to have collided with another car.

The heavily armed criminals are still on the run, while three further guards remain seriously injured.

 French President Emmanuel Macron issued a statement on X. It read: “This morning’s attack, which cost the lives of prison administration agents, is a shock for all of us. 

“The Nation stands alongside families, the injured and their colleagues. Everything is being done to find the perpetrators of this crime so that justice can be done in the name of the French people.”

France’s interior minister Gérald Darmanin said that efforts were underway to capture the gunmen and inmate, with several hundred police mobilised, as well as officers in the National Gendarmerie Intervention Group (GIGN). 

In a X post, he said: “Sincere and saddened condolences to the bereaved families and agents of the Ministry of Justice. The “Epervier” plan was triggered. All means are being used to find these criminals. On my instructions, several hundred police officers and gendarmes [paramilitary personnel] were mobilised.”

The French Minister of Justice, Eric Dupond-Moretti tweeted: “Two prison officers have died, three are seriously injured.”

“All my thoughts are with the victims, their families and their colleagues. I am going immediately to the crisis unit of the Ministry of Justice .”