Paris – A man was shot dead at Paris’ Orly Airport on Saturday after he took a weapon from a soldier, with the city’s prosecutors office saying their anti-terror department had taken over the investigation.
No explosives were found on the man, a French Interior Ministry spokesman said.
France has been on high alert after suffering a number of deadly terrorist attacks over the last two years, with attacks in Paris, Nice and elsewhere costing at least 238 people their lives.
The man stole a weapon from a soldier before running into a shop, news agency AFP reported, citing the Interior Ministry. No one except for the perpetrator was hurt in the incident.
The anti-terror department of the Paris prosecutors’ office took over the investigation after AFP reported that police had found a connection between the shooting at Orly and a shooting at a police check near Paris earlier Saturday morning.
In the earlier incident north of Paris, another man opened fire in Stains, slightly injuring a member of law enforcement.
Air traffic at Orly’s two terminals has been suspended after the shooting there, the airport’s operator wrote in a Tweet, adding that a police operation was underway.
“Do not come to the airport,” the tweet added. Flights had been redirected to Charles du Gaulle Airport, the operator wrote.
An anti-terrorism unit had been sent to the airport, with local broadcasters carrying images of heavily-armed forces at the scene.
–dpa
