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Police chief at Bataclan attack: I try to focus on the positives

Paris, Sep 8 (EFE).- (Camera: Antonio Torres del Cerro) Police chief Christophe Molmy was haunted by the horrifying scenes that unfolded at the Bataclan theater during the terror attacks on 13 November 2015 in Paris but found that focusing on the lives he saved has helped him cope with the ordeal. SOUNDBITES IN FRENCH OF CHRISTOPHE MOLMY, THE COMMISSIONER WHO LED THE POLICE ASSAULT IN BATACLAN. TRANSLATION: 1- “We learn to distance ourselves from what we see, people we don’t know. We train ourselves to not let ourselves be taken over by our emotions and remain professional. But, we are very attentive to our collaborators. Our distress, the distress I always felt throughout these operations… I didn’t tell them, to avoid adding stress. But I was always anxious at the idea of losing a colleague.” 2-“In fact I lost someone very close to me in Bataclan. So I had to deal with that as well. There’s a moment where that takes over the rest. Throughout the night, I was mostly motivated by that. By being close to their family. It kind of erased the professional aspect, which was still there, but sort of faded.” 3-“We had a hard time, but it’s about achieving to distance oneself from the victims. You have to condition yourself. We do it instinctively, like doctors for example. We cannot stop and let ourselves be taken over when we see dead people, or wounded victims asking you for help. You have to keep your distance. With time, we have met some victims, who wanted to join the service, which melts the armor a little, it makes us a bit more fragile, I think. But we are human and they are formidable people, I was delighted to meet them.” 4-“The image of dead people laying on the ground, the noise… But with time… it went really fast… I’m not stalked by it. I try to turn towards the positive results.” 5-“I think that the guys did an incredible job. Great guys who were there because they deserved it, they have amazing skills. But part of it was luck as well, or we were helped, I don’t know I’m no psychic. But the result is incredible. Because stepping into a corridor and managing to get all hostages out is impossible in theory. I try to cling to that, and those hostages. They came, actually, and gave me a photo. You have to hold on to that and think ‘these people are alive,’ you know.” 6-“We received drawings by children, we kept them. Little kids… However, something really really touching was during a ceremony. Every year there’s a ceremony in front of the Bataclan. It was the second year I think, second or third year… A woman came to me, she grabbed me and thanked me in tears. Saying ‘I wanted to thank you, thank you.’ And saying ‘my son died in the Bataclan.’ I found that very unsettling because… I really didn’t know what to say, since his son is dead. We can’t say we were efficient in this case. When we arrived, he was already dead. And here was this woman, nonetheless, thanking us anyway. That really moved me.”