French probe of police station killing focused on motive

Anti-terrorism investigators are questioning three people who were detained after a police official was fatally stabbed Friday at a police station outside Paris

RAMBOUILLET, France -- Anti-terrorism investigators questioned three people who were detained after a police official was fatally stabbed Friday at a police station outside Paris, seeking Saturday to establish a motive, if the attacker had ties to an extremist group and whether he acted alone. A steady stream of people bearing flowers handed the bouquets to police officers in the quiet town of Rambouillet. The police station where the 49-year-old National Police administrative employee publicly identified only as Stephanie was killed remained blocked off to the public. Officers killed the Tunisia-born stabbing suspect after Friday's attack. He entered France illegally in 2009 and was given residency papers last year, a judicial official said Saturday, confirming French press reports. He lived in Rambouillet, best known as the site of a historic royal chateau, before the attack.. Valerie Pecresse, president of the Île-de-France regional council, said the official who died had briefly left the station where she worked to extend the time on a parking meter. She was attacked in the entry passage of the police station as she returned, according to Pecresse,