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Paris Shootout Leaves Police Officer and Gunman Dead Paris Shootout Leaves Police Officer and Gunman Dead
(35 minutes later)
PARIS — A gunman jumped out of a car, killed a police officer and wounded two others on the Champs-Élysées in central Paris on Thursday night, French officials said PARIS — A gunman wielding an assault rifle on Thursday night killed a police officer on the Champs-Élysées in central Paris, stirring fears in France of a terrorist attack that could tip voting in a hotly contested presidential election that starts on Sunday.
The gunman was shot dead by the police as he tried to flee on foot, Pierre-Henry Brandet, a French Interior Ministry spokesman, told the BFMTV news channel. The gunman was shot dead by the police as he tried to flee on foot; two other police officers and a bystander were wounded. The policequickly blocked access to the crowded thoroughfare, lined with restaurants and high-end stores, as a helicopter hovered overhead. Officers began searching for possible accomplices after the attack, which set off panic and a scramble for shelter on surrounding streets.
President François Hollande, addressing the nation from the Élysée presidential palace, not far from where the attack occurred, said that the French authorities were “convinced” that the shooting, which occurred just days before the first round of the French presidential election, pointed to a terrorist act. Near midnight, President François Hollande said in an address to the nation that the attack appeared to be an act of terrorism. The Islamic State claimed responsibility in a message posted on a jihadi channel, and the Paris prosecutor said he had opened a terrorism investigation.
And, on Friday, the Islamic State issued a statement claiming responsibility for the attack. The attack came only days before the start of a presidential vote that could reverberate across Europe, and as the 11 candidates were having their final quasi-debate on the France 2 television network.
Mr. Brandet said that shortly before 9 p.m. a car pulled up to a police vehicle that was parked on the famous boulevard. Analysts have been saying for weeks that an attack just before the first vote, or between the first vote and the runoff on May 7, could tip the election toward a candidate perceived as tougher on crime and terrorism, especially the far-right leader Marine Le Pen, who hardened her stand against Muslim immigration in the campaign’s final days, linking it to security fears, or François Fillon, who has pledged to eradicate Islamic terrorism.
The man opened fire on the police vehicle with an automatic weapon, killing an officer. He then “tried to leave by running away while aiming at, and trying to target, other police officers,” Mr. Brandet said. “Emotion and solidarity for our forces of order, once again targets,” Ms. Le Pen said after the shooting.
“He managed to wound two others and was shot dead by the police forces,” Mr. Brandet added. It was not immediately known if anyone else was in the attacker’s car. The debate format was one-on-one interviews lasting 15 minutes each, followed by an almost three-minute conclusion, and the presidential candidates quickly delivered Twitter posts about the attack as if they were not on the air. Those whose interviews were still being broadcast took the opportunity to speak about their security proposals.
Mr. Brandet said that the exact sequence of events was still unclear, as was whether the assailant had acted alone. He denied reports that a second officer had died and said that the identity of the gunman had not been clearly established. The officers, he said, had been “deliberately targeted.” Mr. Hollande, who spoke from the Élysée Palace, offered an emotional tribute to the police, whom he said were the country’s first line of defense, and endeavored to reassure a nervous public.
Mr. Hollande said he would convene a national security meeting on Friday morning and that a national tribute would be paid to the slain officer. “It has been the case for a number of months, and we will have absolute vigilance when it comes to the elections,” he said, “but everyone will understand that at this hour, my thoughts are with the family of the police who were killed and with those close to the wounded policeman.”
“We must all be aware that our security forces do work that is particularly difficult, that they are exposed, as one can see again this evening, and that they have the nation’s full support,” Mr. Hollande said. François Molins, the Paris prosecutor, said that shortly before 9 p.m., a car pulled up to a police vehicle that was parked in front of a Marks & Spencer store. A gunman jumped out and opened fire on the vehicle, killing an officer. The gunman then tried to flee while firing at other officers but was killed by the police.
Mr. Hollande said that a passer-by had also been wounded in the shooting, but he did not say how badly or provide other details. A restaurateur near the scene of the shooting, who would only give his first name, Denis, told France 24 television by phone that people had sought refuge in his restaurant.
The owner of a restaurant on the Champs-Élysées, who would only give his name as Denis, told France 24 television by phone that when the shooting started, a panicked crowd of some 40 people ran into his restaurant for shelter. “They were scared. They didn’t know what to do, or when it would end,” he said. “Some of them were in shock, others were crying.”
“Some of them were in shock, others were crying,” he said. Several of the people were tourists from the United States, Hong Kong and elsewhere. “They were scared,” he said. “They didn’t know what to do, or when it would end. They came here for holidays and didn’t expect this to happen. I’m a little shocked myself and we’re trying to cope with that.” France has been on high alert since the terrorist attacks in and around Paris in November 2015, and this presidential election will be the first to be conducted under such conditions. The authorities have been warning for months that despite the lack of any large-scale attacks, the threat has not abated.
The Islamic State statement, on the group’s Amaq news agency, was published first in Arabic and later in French. Citing a “source,” it said that the attack was the work of someone named Abu Yousuf al-Belgiki, “who is one of the soldiers of the Caliphate.” Mr. Molins, who handles terrorism investigations nationwide, said authorities had identified the killer, but he declined to provide the gunman’s identity because police raids and the search for potential accomplices were still ongoing.
The terror group, also known as ISIS and ISIL, has generally been careful to only claim attacks carried out by radicalized Muslims, but it does not distinguish between plots directly carried out by its fighters and those inspired by its ideology. European counterterrorism officials said they believed that the Islamic State’s claim was credible.
“The speed with which IS claimed responsibility is surprising,” said Peter Neumann, a counterterrorism expert and professor of Security Studies at the Department of War Studies at King’s College London. “The attacker being from Belgium highlights the closeness of the Belgian-French network that carried out the Paris-Brussels attacks,” he added, referring to assaults in those cities in 2015 and 2016. The speed with which the group claimed responsibility was “surprising,” said Peter R. Neumann, the director of the International Center for the Study of Radicalization and Political Violence at King’s College London. “It seems prepared and coordinated, like they knew this was going to happen,” he said.
”It seems prepared and coordinated,” Mr. Neumann added, noting that the Islamic State claim was in multiple languages, “like they knew this was going to happen.” On Tuesday two men were arrested in Marseille for having imminent plans to conduct a terrorist attack. Weapons, ammunition and the highly volatile explosive TATP was found in one of the apartments used by the two men. It is the same type of explosive used in the attack at the Bataclan concert hall in Paris in November 2015 and in the attacks in Brussels in March 2016.
The attackers who carried out the attack in Paris on Nov. 13, 2015, which left 130 people dead, came from Belgium. The response of all the candidates was to express solidarity with the police, and Mr. Fillon, who represents the mainstream right, and Ms. Le Pen, the extreme right candidate, said they would not campaign on Friday, out of respect for the police who were killed and wounded.
In Washington, President Trump offered “our condolences from our country to the people of France.” Emmanuel Macron, who along with Ms. Le Pen has been leading in the polls, stepped back from the moment, saying: “This imponderable threat, this threat, will be a fact of daily life in the coming years.”
Mr. Trump, at a White House briefing with Prime Minister Paolo Gentiloni of Italy, said that the shooting “looks like another terrorist attack. And what can you say — it just never ends. We have to be strong and we have to be vigilant. And I’ve been saying it for a long time.” President Trump, who was meeting with Prime Minister Paolo Gentiloni of Italy at the White House on Thursday, responded to a question from reporters about the Paris attack. “That’s a terrible thing, and it’s a very, very terrible thing that’s going on in the world today,” he said. “But it looks like another terrorist attack. And what can you say — it just never ends.”
The French presidential candidates quickly reacted to the shooting on Twitter. François Fillon, the conservative candidate for the Republicans party, praised “security forces who give their life to protect ours,” while Marine Le Pen, the far-right candidate, said police officers were “once again targeted.” The French presidential candidates were not alone in using the attack to burnish their image as potential commanders in chief; the Islamic State also appeared eager to make the most of the it, preparing a statement in multiple languages and being ready to claim responsibility, said Michael S. Smith II, a terrorism analyst who specializes in the Islamic State’s influence efforts and who is writing a book on its external operations.
The campaigns of both Mr. Fillon and Ms. Le Pen said they had canceled all events scheduled for Friday. “The timing of the attack itself is significant in that this will help to ensure the group is a centerpiece of political discourses in France,” Mr. Smith said. “For prospective recruits in the West and seasoned jihadis in conflict zones alike, including the Al Qaeda members that the Islamic State has sought to draw into its ranks, this can bolster perceptions of the group as a credible enterprise that is worthy of their support.”
The shooting occurred near the George V Métro stop, not far from the Arc de Triomphe at the top of the boulevard, which is lined with luxury stores, restaurants, movie theaters and tourist spots.
Security forces quickly descended en masse on the Champs-Élysées and sealed off the area, which remained off-limits shortly before midnight. Nearby Métro stations were also closed.
The shooting heightened fears in a city already on edge days before the the election. The country has been plagued not only by well-planned terrorist assaults, like the one in November 2015; and the massacre at the satirical newspaper Charlie Hebdo in January of that year, but by small-scale attacks by lone killers.
Anne Hidalgo, the mayor of Paris, said in a statement that the assailant was “blinded by hatred and by death,” and she praised the police for their response. “I also want to address a message of solidarity to the shopkeepers on the Champs-Élysées, who spontaneously sheltered many bystanders in their stores and provided precious help in such a difficult moment,” Ms. Hidalgo said.
Voters in France go to the polls on Sunday for the first round of the election. The shooting occurred even as the candidates were appearing on television to make their final arguments to voters.
Two men were arrested in the southern city of Marseille this week on suspicions that they were preparing an attack to disrupt the campaign.
In his address late Thursday, Mr. Hollande vowed that the authorities would maintain an “absolute vigilance” during the elections.