Igor Bondarenko
The President of the European Academy of Security and Conflictology,
Professor, Doctor of Law
On the 1st of October 2017, on Sunday evening, a man shouting "Allahu Akbar" threw a knife on passers-by, who were at the station of Saint-Charles in Marseilles. As a result, two girls of 17 and 20 years old died. By the knife attack, the killer cut the throat of one girl, another girl got a knife hit in her stomach. The railway station was urgently evacuated. The police this time managed to shoot the assailant in place, so the number of victims did not increase multiple.
Almost simultaneously, a much larger scale tragedy occurred in Las Vegas. The security forces worked with a clear delay. During the country music festival "Route 91 Harvest", taking place on the central square of Las Vegas, on a 40-thousand crowd of spectators was opened aimed fire from the 32nd floor of the fashionable hotel Mandalay Bay. A total of 59 people were killed and 527 got wounded. It is reported that the shooter was shooting for over an hour and then shot himself down before the police burst into his room.
There is something common for these crimes. Firstly, the international organization of terrorists - ISIS (organization which is banned in Russia, - Ed.), hastened to take over responsibility for both atrocities. Secondly, both crimes are committed by individuals. Everything is perfectly fit within the framework of the "excessive act of the loner", which is well known to the specialists in the fight against terror and which is very difficult to prevent at the stage of preparation.
On this, perhaps, the coincidence ends. The American shooter is 64 years old. His name is John Paddock. He is quite rich, he even owns two private planes. He repeatedly visited Las Vegas, where he played for big sumes of money. He had no problems with the law. He has acquired a big arsenal of guns for the preparation of his crime. In the Paddock's room it was found 23 rifles.
His French counterpart is the exact opposite. A young man who used an Algerian passport on the name of a 29-year-old Ahmad, clearly had no means for serious preparation and used "improvised means." He was repeatedly detained for various offenses. The head of the Ministry of Internal Affairs of France did not rule out that it could be a terrorist act.
American colleagues are not in a hurry to determine the shooting as a terrorist attack, despite the statements of ISIS, that Paddock was ISIS fighter and even accepted Islam a few months ago. The mannerism of ISIS is not visible here. Rather, it may be a mental disorder. In this case, the intelligence services are almost powerless, but still they could inquire in advance for what reason such big arsenal of guns was bought.
But the purpose of terror is to inspire fear. To do this, any resonant crimes are used. The main thing is in time to declare them as their own and pre-planned.