One police officer killed, two wounded in Paris shooting

[Muhammad10]

One policeman was killed and two others wounded in a shooting incident in central Paris on Thursday night, police and the interior ministry said.

The shooting, in which the assailant was also killed, took place on the Champs-Elysees shopping boulevard just days ahead of France's presidential election.

A witness told Reuters that a man got out of a car at the scene and began shooting with a machine gun. A police source also said more shots had been fired at another location near the scene.

A French interior ministry spokesman said it was too early to say what the motive of the attack was, but that it was clear the police officers had been deliberately targeted.

The French prosecutors' office said the counter-terrorism office had opened an inquiry.

Three police sources said, however, that the shooting could have been an attempt at an armed robbery.

"I came out of the Sephora shop and I was walking along the pavement where an Audi 80 was parked. A man got out and opened fire with a kalashnikov on a policeman," witness Chelloug, a kitchen assistant, told Reuters.

"The policeman fell down. I heard six shots, I was afraid. I have a two year-old girl and I thought I was going to die... He shot straight at the police officer."

Police authorities called on the public to avoid the area.

TV footage showed the Arc de Triomphe monument and top half of the Champs Elysees packed with police vans, lights flashing and heavily armed police shutting the area down after what was described by one journalist as a major exchange of fire near a Marks and Spencers store.

The incident came as French voters prepared go to the polls on Sunday in the most tightly-contested presidential election in living memory.

France has lived under a state of emergency since 2015 and has suffered a spate of Islamist militant attacks that have killed more than 230 people in the past two years.

Earlier this week, two men were arrested in Marseille whom police said had been planning an attack ahead of the election.

A machine gun, two hand guns and three kilos of TATP explosive were among the weapons found at a flat in the southern city along with jihadist propaganda materials according to the Paris prosecutor.

http://www.reuters.com/article/us-france-shooting-idUSKBN17M2I8?il=0

 

[Gabbar Singh]

Poor France - it's just one incident after another.

 

[MenInG]

The gunman who shot dead a policeman in Paris on Thursday has been identified from papers left in his car, but French officials are yet to release his name.

Local media say the 39-year-old lived in the city's suburbs, and had been seen as a potential Islamist radical.

The gunman also wounded two police officers before he was killed by security forces on the Champs-Elysees.

President François Hollande is to chair a security cabinet meeting, as France readies for Sunday's presidential poll.

Mr Hollande said he was convinced the attack was "terrorist-related", adding that the security forces had the full support of the nation and a national tribute would be paid to the fallen policeman.

So-called Islamic State (IS) said one of its "fighters" had carried out the attack.

What happened on Thursday on the Champs-Elysees?

A car pulled up alongside a police bus just before 21:00 (19:00 GMT) and a man got out, opening fire on the bus with an automatic weapon, Interior Ministry spokesman Pierre-Henry Brandet said.

After killing an officer, the man attempted to run away while shooting at other officers, two of whom he injured, the spokesman added.

He was then shot dead by security forces.

Terrified eyewitness later recounted scenes of panic as they ran for cover after hearing gunfire.
The whole of the Champs-Elysees was evacuated.

Because of its worldwide renown and its large number of visitors, the avenue has long been seen as a potential target, the BBC's Hugh Schofield in Paris reports.

Overnight, a property in the eastern Parisian suburb of Chelles was searched by investigators, who want to know who else - if anyone - may have known about the gunman's plans.

What is known about the attacker?

Paris prosecutor François Molins said shortly after the shootings that "the attacker's identity is known and has been verified".

"I won't reveal it, because investigations and raids are already under way, in particular to establish whether there is any evidence or not of complicity (in this attack)," he said, adding that more information would be released on Friday.

According to French media, the attacker served several years in prison for firing on police officers with a gun in the early 2000s.

More recently the intelligence services identified him as a potential Islamist radical.

Meanwhile, IS identified the attacker as Abu-Yusuf al-Baljiki, in a statement carried by its Amaq news outlet.

Could the attack influence the elections?

The 11 candidates standing in Sunday's closely fought presidential election were engaged in a final joint TV appearance to argue their policies as the attack happened.

Marine Le Pen, of the far-right Front National, tweeted: "I feel for and stand by our security forces, who have been targeted again."

Read more on
http://www.bbc.com/news/world-europe-39663300

 

[TM Riddle]

First world country.