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Man shot dead at Paris airport after trying to grab gun Paris shooting: man killed at Orly airport had shot police officer
(about 1 hour later)
French soldiers shot dead a man at Orly airport in Paris on Saturday morning after he tried to grab a weapon, the interior ministry has confirmed. Anti-terror officials have launched an investigation after a man reportedly known to the security services shot a police officer in northern Paris before travelling across the city to Orly airport, where he was killed following an altercation with another officer.
Police evacuated both terminals at the airport and all flights have been suspended, with some diverted to Charles de Gaulle airport. The attacker was said to be a radicalised Muslim who appeared on a security watch list, police sources told Reuters. The anti-terrorism prosecutor in France later confirmed an inquiry had been opened into the incident on Saturday morning.
Travellers have been told to avoid the airport while the security operation was under way. Some passengers whose flights had already landed were being held on board. The man was shot after he tried to grab a soldier’s weapon at the airport. Interior ministry spokesman Pierre-Henry Brandet said: “A man took a weapon from a soldier then hid in a shop in the airport before being shot dead by security forces.”
No one else was injured in the incident. The soldier was part of the Sentinel special forces, an elite military group installed around France to protect sensitive sites after a string of deadly Islamic extremist attacks.
An interior ministry spokesman said officers were sweeping the airport to ensure that there were no explosive devices. Police sources said the same man was also involved in the incident at Stains, north of the French capital, in which a policeman was shot and injured during a road check.
“A man took a weapon from a soldier then hid in a shop in the airport before being shot dead by security forces,” he said. No explosive devices were found on the dead man’s body, Brandet said.
The soldier was part of the Sentinel special force installed around France to protect sensitive sites after a string of deadly Islamic extremist attacks. Police evacuated both terminals at Orly and all flights have been suspended, with some diverted to Charles de Gaulle airport. Travellers have been told to avoid the airport while the security operation was under way. Some passengers whose flights had already landed were being held on board.
The French interior minister, Bruno Le Roux, is due to visit the airport, south of Paris, later.
A witness, Franck Lecam, said: “We had queued up to check in for the Tel Aviv flight when we heard three or four shots nearby. We are all outside the airport, about 200 metres from the entrance.A witness, Franck Lecam, said: “We had queued up to check in for the Tel Aviv flight when we heard three or four shots nearby. We are all outside the airport, about 200 metres from the entrance.
“There are policemen, emergency workers and soldiers everywhere in all directions. A security official told us that it happened near gates 37-38 where Turkish Airlines flights were scheduled.”“There are policemen, emergency workers and soldiers everywhere in all directions. A security official told us that it happened near gates 37-38 where Turkish Airlines flights were scheduled.”
Meanwhile, in a separate incident, a police officer was shot and injured north of Paris during a road check. No one else was injured in the Orly incident.
The airport shooting follows after a similar incident last month at the Louvre museum in central Paris. The French interior minister, Bruno Le Roux, is due to visit the airport, south of Paris, later.
The aiport shooting follows after a similar incident last month at the Louvre museum in central Paris.
France remains under a state of emergency in the wake of the attack on the Bataclan music venue in November 2015 in which 90 people were killed by jihadi gunmen, and the Nice truck attack last July that claimed the lives of 84 people and injured hundreds more.France remains under a state of emergency in the wake of the attack on the Bataclan music venue in November 2015 in which 90 people were killed by jihadi gunmen, and the Nice truck attack last July that claimed the lives of 84 people and injured hundreds more.
No further details about the man killed at the airport were immediately available.