Man Takes Hostages In Paris Suburb After Killing Policeman: Police Sources

The attacker and a female companion of the police commander were later found dead after police commandos stormed the home and rescued the couple’s three-year-old son.

The killing came after a gunman claiming to be acting in the name of IS shot dead 49 people at a gay nightclub in Orlando, Florida on Sunday in the worst mass shooting in USA history.

A news agency linked to IS said the attack had been carried out by an “Islamic State fighter”, days after posting a similar claim following the massacre at a gay club in Orlando, Florida.

Prosecutor Vincent Lesclous said there was not yet any “certainty about the motivations” of the attacker.

The attack happened in Magnanville, about 55 kilometres west of Paris, the interior minister’s spokesman Pierre-Henry Brandet told reporters.

The policeman’s son is reportedly three years old.

Although officials said the attacker was killed by police when they stormed the residence, it was unclear how the woman was killed.

A man was shot dead during a dramatic police operation in the Paris suburbs late Monday, hours after he had stabbed a police officer to death, authorities said. The assailant, the criminal, was killed.

“The attacker was neutralised by RAID forces, who showed great composure and great professionalism and who saved the couple’s little boy”, Mr Cazeneuve said in a statement. He was in the house. “He is safe and sound”.

A police officer was stabbed to death while the body of his wife was found in their home after she was taken hostage.

The senior French police officer and his partner were killed in an outer suburb of Paris.

Le Parisien reported that the suspect was the victim’s neighbour.

If the crime was organised or inspired by IS, it would fit in with a long-established pattern of jihadist violence.

If it is confirmed Islamic State was behind the murders, it would be the first militant strike on French soil since the government imposed a state of emergency after the multiple attacks on Paris in November that killed 130 people.

French President Francois Hollande said a meeting would be held at the Elysee palace on Tuesday morning to discuss the incident.