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Paris shooting: home linked to suspect searched as Isis claims responsibility Paris gunman served 15 years for attempted police murders
(about 2 hours later)
Police in France have searched a property believed to be the family home of a known terror suspect who shot dead one policeman and seriously wounded two others in an attack two days before voting opens in an already tense presidential election. Police in France have searched a property believed to be the home of a known terror suspect who shot dead one police officer and seriously wounded two more in an attack two days before voting begins in an already tense presidential election.
The gunman stepped from a car and opened fire on a police van with an automatic rifle outside a Marks & Spencer store on the Champs Élysées at about 9pm on Thursday. The gunman stepped from a car and opened fire on a police van with an automatic rifle outside a Marks & Spencer store on the Champs Élysées in central Paris at about 9pm on Thursday.
The attacker, a 39-year-old man widely named named as Karim Cheurfi, was known to French security services. He was shot dead by police while trying to flee on foot. A statement from the Isis propaganda agency, Amaq, said the attack was carried out by an “Islamic State fighter”. The attacker, a 39-year-old man widely named named as Karim Cheurfi, was known to French security services. Media reported he had served nearly 15 years in prison after being convicted of three attempted murders – two against police officers – in 2001.
After a series of atrocities that have killed more than 230 people in France over the past two years, authorities had long feared bloodshed in the run-up to polling day. The attack could bring security to the forefront of voters’ concerns in Sunday’s first round. He was shot dead by police while trying to flee on foot. A statement from the Isis propaganda agency, Amaq, said the attack was carried out by an “Islamic State fighter”.
Police were searching a house in the eastern Paris suburb of Chelles early on Friday, believed to be Cheurfi’s family home. Police sources told local media the man had been arrested in February on suspicion of plotting to kill police officers but released because of lack of evidence. After a series of atrocities that have killed more than 230 people in France over the past two years, authorities had long feared bloodshed in the run-up to polling day and observers have speculated the attack could bring security to the forefront of voters’ concerns in Sunday’s first round.
Isis named the shooter as Abu Yusuf al-Beljiki, or “the Belgian”. A police arrest warrant issued earlier on Thursday and seen by Reuters news agency mentioned a dangerous individual who had entered France by train from Belgium on Thursday. The prime minister, Bernard Cazeneuve, said the government had reviewed its extensive election security measures and was “fully mobilised” in the wake of the attack.
But the nationality of the attacker was uncertain on Friday morning. The Belgian federal prosector’s office said it had no information on the suspect nor evidence that Cheurfi was from Belgium. “Barbarity and cowardice struck Paris last night, as they also recently struck elsewhere in Europe in Berlin, Stockholm, in London,” Caeneuve said after a meeting of its security council on Friday. “The whole of Europe is being targeted, because it represents the values and ideals of peace”.
In an interview with French radio, France’s interior ministry spokesman, Pierre-Henry Brandet, said police were hunting a second suspect in connection with the shooting, following a tip-off from Belgian security officials. He said more than 50,000 police and gendarmes and 7,000 soldiers would be on duty for Sunday’s first-round vote in the two-stage election, and nothing could be allowed to “hamper this democratic moment”. He appealed for national unity and for people “not to succumb to fear.”
Le Parisien reported that Cheurfi had served 15 years in prison after being convicted of three attempted murders, two against policemen, in 2001, adding that the search address matched that of the owner of the car used in the attack. A house in the eastern suburb of Chelles, believed to be Cheurfi’s family home, was being searched on Friday. Le Parisien newspaper said the address matched that of the owner of the car used in the attack. Police had found a pump-action shotgun and knives in the vehicle.
The suspect was, however, not on the Fiche-S, the national list of people suspected of being a threat to national security. Police sources told French media Cheurfi was arrested in February on suspicion of plotting to kill police officers but released because of lack of evidence.
The outgoing president, François Hollande, said on Thursday night he was convinced the shooting was a “terrorist act”. He paid tribute to the police and pledged “absolute vigilance, particularly with regard to the electoral process”. He was reportedly not, however, on France’s “Fiche-S”, the list of people suspected of being a threat to national security.
The second police officer, critically injured when the gunman shot him in the back, was recovering in hospital. Isis named the attacker as Abu Yusuf al-Beljiki, or “the Belgian”, but it was not clear if the statement referred to Cheurfi. The Belgian interior minister, Jan Jambon, said he was “certainly not the guy who committed the crime yesterday”.
Three members of the suspect’s family have been questioned by police. A Belgian national sought earlier by Belgian police and thought to have travelled to France on Thursday turned himself in to police in Antwerp, a French interior ministry spokesman, Henri Brandet, said on Friday.
Hollande was chairing a security cabinet meeting on Friday morning, part of government efforts to protect the vote, which is taking place under already heightened security with more than 50,000 police and soldiers mobilised and a state of emergency in place since 2015. A source close to the French investigation said the 35-year-old Belgian man, described as “very dangerous”, had been sought by his country’s police force as part of a separate investigation. Hours before the Paris assault, Belgian police reportedly found weapons, balaclavas and a ticket for a train trip to France departing on Thursday morning.
The interior ministry spokesman said the officers had been deliberately targeted and authorities were trying to determine whether “one or more people” might have helped the attacker. A female foreign tourist was also slightly wounded in the attack. Belgian prosecutors said the man handed himself in “after he saw himself appear on social media as terror suspect No 1”, but that he had nothing to do with the attack. The Belgian justice minister, Koen Geens, said on Friday the government had “no information at this moment about Belgian links”.
The interior minister, Matthias Fekl, said: “The sense of duty of our policemen tonight averted a massacre … they prevented a bloodbath on the Champs Élysées.” In France, three people known to Cheurfi were arrested during overnight raids in the eastern suburbs of Paris and were being questioned by anti-terror police, judicial sources said.
It is difficult to predict the impact of the attack on the election, which polls suggest is too close to call. How the candidates judge the public mood and respond could well influence their chances. The outgoing president, François Hollande, paid tribute to the police on Thursday night and pledged “absolute vigilance, particularly with regard to the electoral process”, taking place under a national state of emergency which has been in place since 2015.
The interior minister, Matthias Fekl, said: “The sense of duty of our policemen tonight averted a massacre … they prevented a bloodbath on the Champs Élysées.” A female foreign tourist was also slightly wounded in the attack.
It is difficult to predict the impact of the attack on the election, which polls suggest is too close to call. How the candidates judge the public mood and what they say in response could well influence their chances.
Three of the frontrunners – the far-right leader Marine Le Pen, independent centrist Emmanuel Macron and scandal-hit conservative François Fillon – cancelled events on Friday, the final day of campaigning.Three of the frontrunners – the far-right leader Marine Le Pen, independent centrist Emmanuel Macron and scandal-hit conservative François Fillon – cancelled events on Friday, the final day of campaigning.
The attack happened while the 11 first-round contestants were appearing on a live interview show on French television. Speaking before the shooting, Le Pen said security should be at the heart of the campaign. “We are suffering the consequences of a laxity that has continued for years,” she said. Le Pen, whose key themes during the campaign have been increased security and border controls and tougher treatment of flagged radicals in France’s fight against Islamist extremism, called for “a clear head and a firm grip” in the wake of the attack, telling RTL radio that it was “time to stop being naive”.
Speaking later, the Front National leader repeated her call for Europe’s internal borders to be closed, saying she was “deeply angry” as well as sad for the police victims, “because not everything is done … to protect our compatriots. They need more than our compassion.” She called for France to immediately take back control of its borders from the EU and deport all foreigners on a terror watchlist. “This war against us is ceaseless and merciless,” she said.
Macron, who was interviewed on the show after news broke of the attack, said the first duty of France’s president was to protect, adding that the terror threat “will be a part of our daily lives over the coming years”. Fillon said the fight against terrorism must be the next president’s “absolute priority”. Macron said attackers wanted “death, symbolism, to sow panic and to disturb a democratic process, which is the presidential election”. Asked if the assault would impact voting, Macron said: “No one knows.”
Foreign leaders also responded to the attack. The US president, Donald Trump, said it “looks like another terrorist attack. What can you say? It just never ends.” His vice-president, Mike Pence, said the shooting was “the latest reminder that terrorism can strike anywhere at any time”. He said if he was elected he would swiftly create a special taskforce to coordinate French intelligence efforts against Islamic State, and accused Le Pen of lying when she claimed she could have prevented previous attacks if she had been in office. “She won’t be able to protect our citizens,” he said.
The broad Champs Élysées avenue, which reopened on Friday, was sealed off for much of Thursday night as police ordered tourists back into hotels and blocked people from approaching the scene. Emergency vehicles blocked access and metro stations were closed. The Champs Élysées reopened on Friday, having been sealed off for much of Thursday night as police ordered tourists back into hotels and blocked people from approaching the scene. Emergency vehicles blocked access and metro stations were closed.
France has been on its highest possible level of terror alert since the 2015 Charlie Hebdo and Paris attacks and the Nice truck attack of 2016. Thousands of troops and armed police have been deployed to guard tourist hotspots such as the Champs Élysées and other potential targets. France has been on its highest possible level of terror alert since the 2015 Charlie Hebdo and Paris attacks and the Nice truck attack of 2016. Thousands of troops and armed police have been deployed to guard tourist hotspots, such as the Champs Élysées.
This week, two men were arrested in Marseille on suspicion of planning an attack before the election. A machine-gun, two handguns and three kilos of TATP explosive were found at a flat in the southern city, along with Isis propaganda material. This week, two men were arrested in Marseille on suspicion of planning an attack before the election. A machine-gun, two handguns and 3kg of TATP explosive were found at a flat in the southern city, along with Isis propaganda material.
Polls have suggested Le Pen and Macron are the most likely candidates to go through to the second-round runoff on 7 May, but Fillon and the hard-left candidate Jean-Luc Mélenchon are only two or three points behind, and up to 25% of voters have yet to make up their minds, meaning any two of the four could qualify.Polls have suggested Le Pen and Macron are the most likely candidates to go through to the second-round runoff on 7 May, but Fillon and the hard-left candidate Jean-Luc Mélenchon are only two or three points behind, and up to 25% of voters have yet to make up their minds, meaning any two of the four could qualify.