‘Deliberately’ targeted
One dead, one injured in Champs-Elysees attack
The French Interior Ministry says the shooting attack on the famed Champs-Elysees boulevard in Paris deliberately targeted police officers guarding the area.
Ministry spokesman PierreHenry Brandet said on BFM television that a man came out of a car and opened fire on a police vehicle.
One officer was killed and another was wounded.
Brandet says the police officers were “deliberately” targeted.
He says police are securing the area but there is “no other police operation underway” in the popular area.
Brandet says it’s too early to say whether the attacker might have had an accomplice and said authorities are studying multiple potential motives.
Paris police and soldiers sealed off the area around the Champs-Elysees after the attack, ordering tourists back into
their hotels and blocking people from approaching the scene.
Emergency vehicles blocked the wide avenue that cuts across
central Paris between the Arc de Triomphe and the Tuileries Gardens, normally packed with cars and tourists.
Subway stations in the area were closed off on Thursday night while police secure the scene.
Security forces are more widespread in Paris since deadly Islamic extremist attacks in recent years, and France remains under a state of emergency.
Speaking in Washington during a news conference with Italian Prime Minister Paolo Gentiloni, U.S. President Donald Trump said the shooting in Paris “looks like another terrorist attack” and sent condolences to France.
It was unclear how Trump concluded that terrorism may have been a factor. Paris police had yet to announce a motive,
Trump is also offering condolences from the U.S. to the people of France.
He calls the attack a “terrible thing” and says “it never ends.” He says people must be strong and vigilant.
The attack came three days before the first round of balloting in France’s presidential election.