Hunt for second suspect in Paris attack

PARIS: The man who shot dead a French police officer in an Islamist militant attack had served time for armed assaults on law enforcement, sources revealed, as authorities sought a second suspect flagged by Belgian security services.

The gunman, identified as Karim Cheurfi, opened fire on a police vehicle parked on the Champs-Élysées in Paris late on Thursday, killing one and injuring two policemen before being shot dead.

The attack overshadowed the last day of campaigning for tomorrow’s presidential election first round, bringing raw issues surrounding Islamist militancy to the fore.

Cheurfi, a French citizen, had been convicted for previous armed assaults on law enforcement going back 16 years, the sources said, and was well known to authorities.

In addition to the rifle used in the attack, he had a shotgun and knives in his car, the sources said.

Three of his family members have been placed in detention, the French interior ministry said.

While in detention, Cheurfi had also shot and wounded a prison officer after seizing his gun. Freed after serving most of his sentence, he was arrested again this year on suspicion of preparing an attack on police – but released for lack of evidence.

A French interior ministry spokesperson confirmed that a manhunt was under way for a second individual, based on information from Belgian security services.

“It’s too early to say how or whether he was connected to what happened on the ChampsÉlysées,” Pierre-Henry Brandet said. “There are a certain number of leads to check. We are not ruling anything out.”

A potential second suspect was identified in a document seen by Reuters. Belgian officials had warned French counterparts before the attack a “very dangerous individual was en route to France” aboard the Thalys high-speed train.

The warning was circulated more widely among French security services in the hour following the Champs-Élysées attack.

IS claimed responsibility for the Champs-Élysées shooting hours after the attack, in a statement identifying the attacker as “Abu Yousif the Belgian”.

The suspect’s connection with either Cheurfi or the man named in IS’s statement remained unclear yesterday.

Coming just days after police said they had foiled another planned Islamist attack, arresting two men in the southern city of Marseille, the Champs-Élysées shooting dominated the final day of election campaigning. – Reuters