Parisian woman vacationing in the valley; unexpected connection to one Paris attacker

The reach of the terrorist attacks on Paris is widespread with many people right here in our desert impacted by the tragedy.

Nicolene Vachet who is vacationing here from France said she could not believe the news…

“I was in tears. I just couldn’t believe it. I was stunned. I was like ‘I don’t want more people dying.’ It was hard and it’s still hard to think about it actually,” Vachet said.

Since she heard about the attacks Vachet couldn’t stop watching the news.

That’s when she learned one of the terrorists responsible is from the town she teaches school in, Courcouronnes.

“It’s an inner city high school that I teach in. But it used to be pretty quiet, as opposed to the northern suburbs of Paris. Now it seems like things are moving and changing,” Vachet said.

She said thankfully her family does not live anywhere near Paris, but many of her friends do.

“My friends are okay. I talked to them this morning and they’re okay,” Vachet said.

Vachet said she felt these attacks coming…

She said people and governments need to take the threat of terrorists more seriously.

“We had Charlie Hebdo last year, we have this now, these guys need to be taken more seriously. And what happened with ISIS over a year a go should have been taken more seriously,” Vachet said.

Vachet was supposed to return home Monday but said she’s thinking of postponing.

She said she’s thankful she lives in the suburbs but is saddened to feel unsafe when she returns.

“Everywhere you go, you know that something could happen. But it’s in the hands of God I guess,” Vachet said.