Killer’s blunder ‘ prevented terror atrocity’
AN Islamic terrorist shot a woman dead then accidentally wounded himself before he could go on a killing spree, it emerged last night.
Sid Ahmed Ghlam, 24, is believed to have murdered fitness instructor Aurelie Chatelain, 33, who was found on Sunday with three bullets in her head in her car in the Paris suburb of Villejuif.
The Algerian computer student then shot himself in the leg and was found nearby bleeding heavily.
He claimed to have been attacked by criminals but police followed the trail of blood to his car, where they found a Kalashnikov rifle and a pistol. There were also stolen police armbands which would have enabled Ghlam to pose as a plain- clothes officer.
Police later found three automatic rifles, handguns and bulletproof vests at his student digs.
There were also jihadi flags and literature, false passports and plans for attacks on “one or two” churches in the Paris area.
Yesterday, French interior minister Bernard Cazeneuve said: “An imminent terrorist attack was foiled on Sunday. The police discovered an arsenal containing weapons of war.” Ghlam had been under surveillance and considered likely to travel to Syria to fight with Islamic State, said Mr Cazeneuve.
He had moved to France in 2009 and was supported by his sister.
DNA analysis linked Ghlam to the murder of Ms Chatelain, who had a fiveyear- old daughter.
Last night Prime Minister Manuel Valls said: “The terrorists are targeting France to divide us.”
Sunday’s murder follows the Charlie Hebdo and kosher supermarket attacks in Paris in January when three Islamists slaughtered 17 people.