Paris’ airport evacuated after security forces kill man who stole guard’s weapon

An unidentified man tried to seize a firearm from a French soldier at the airport and shots were fired by the French military in the ensuing altercation. Such a weapon could inflict harm but would not usually be lethal.

Update 9.55am: Police in Paris are linking two shootings that took place in the city this morning, one at a police checkpoint and one at Orly Airport. The officer had stopped the suspect for a routine identity check.

His brother and father went to a police station and were placed in custody, although it was considered “standard procedure” and they had not been charged, French media reported.

Previously imprisoned for drug trafficking and armed robbery, Zied B. had been under surveillance.

Investigators are now searching for “clues, stories, and images” pertaining to the suspect and incident, France’s interior minister said.

A man was shot and killed by soldiers at Orly Airport outside Paris this morning after he attacked a soldier and attempted to steal her rifle. “My reaction was not to leave but to walk towards him and I told him, ‘Give up, you shouldn’t do this, it’s not right.’ He didn’t answer me”, she said.

“They reacted with great professionalism and remarkable composure”.

The soldier from whom the man took the weapon was a part of Operation Sentinelle, deployed after the January 2015 Paris attacks.

France remains under a state of emergency following the attack on the Bataclan music venue in November 2015 in which jihadi gunmen killed 90 people, and the Nice truck attack last July that claimed the lives of 84 people and injured hundreds more.

Whether the attack was terrorist in nature would be established by the judicial authorities, the Interior Ministry tweeted. He was also well known to police for his multiple burglary and narcotics offenses, the Express reports. Belgacem’s plans are unclear, he said, adding that an investigation will determine whether he acted as a “lone wolf”.

French President Francois Hollande praised the police and soldiers for the courage and effectiveness in the face of the attack.

Although no bystanders were killed, the airport incident became the latest in a series of events that have kept France on high alert after attacks over the past two years have killed 235 people.

“Do not cross the safety perimeter, follow instructions”, France’s National Police instructed via Twitter. No explosives were found, said the report.