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Agence France-Presse

A known terror suspect gunned down a police officer and wounded two others on Thursday on Paris’s Champs Elysees in an attack claimed by Islamic State days before France’s presidential election.
France has been alerted about a new suspect by the Belgian security services but it was not immediately clear if he was linked to the late-night shooting in Paris, a ministry official said on Friday.
“It is too early to say” if the man signalled by Belgium was involved in the shooting, interior ministry spokesman Pierre-Henry Brandet told Europe 1.
The shooter opened fire with an automatic weapon on a police car on the world-famous boulevard at around 9pm, prompting tourists and visitors to run for their lives. After killing the officer and injuring his colleagues, the gunman was killed in a wild shoot-out as he tried to flee on foot.
Watch: Paris shooting witnesses


Paris Terror Attacks
“The perpetrator of the attack in Champs Elysees in central Paris is Abu Yussef the Belgian and he is one of the Islamic State’s fighters,” said an IS statement published by its propaganda agency Amaq.
The attacker was known to French anti-terror police, sources said, and raids took place at his address in a suburb to the east of Paris.
Observers had long feared an attack ahead of Sunday’s election in France, following a string of atrocities by extremists since 2015 that have claimed over 230 lives.

Paris, what's going on the Champs-elysses?? #paris pic.twitter.com/xTIgA5cW1P
— Allie Fowler (@historynerd94) April 20, 2017

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The impact on the outcome of one of the most unpredictable contests in decades is unclear, but far-right leader Marine Le Pen and scandal-hit conservative Francois Fillon immediately cancelled their campaign events on Friday.
Up until now, polls showed voters more concerned about unemployment and their spending power than terrorism or security, though analysts warned this would change in the event of further bloodshed.
The shooting comes two days after the arrest of two men in southern Marseille with weapons and explosives who were suspected of preparing an attack to disrupt the campaign which concludes on Sunday.
French President Francois Hollande, again forced to address the nation after an attack, promised “absolute vigilance, particularly with regard to the electoral process” and paid tribute to the police.
Le Pen earlier welcomed security moving to the heart of the campaign Thursday as she took part in a prime-time interview show alongside 10 other presidential candidates.

“We are suffering the consequences of a laxity that has continued for years,” she said shortly before the shooting, promising to take a hard line against extremists and anyone suspected of being an Islamist.
Thwarted terror attack rattles France days before presidential vote
For weeks, centrist former banker Emmanuel Macron and Le Pen have been out in front but opinion polls now show there is a chance that any of four leading candidates could reach the second-round runoff on May 7.
Though Le Pen and Macron are the front runners, conservative candidate Fillon and far-left firebrand Jean-Luc Melenchon have closed the gap substantially in the last two weeks.
“The first responsibility of the president is to protect,” Macron said on the interview show. “This threat will be part of our daily lives in the next years.”

LIVE: Video from the scene where police officer killed in Paris shooting on Champs-Elysees. https://t.co/hq1lk9MlCe pic.twitter.com/yZPMCTPEe8
— Reuters Top News (@Reuters) April 20, 2017

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As the first details filtered through, US President Donald Trump sent his condolences and said that “it looks like another terrorist attack. What can you say? It just never ends.”
The bustling shopping street in the heart of the city was immediately blocked by armed officers after the attack and nearby metro stations were closed.
“We had to hide our customers in the basement,” said Choukri Chouanine, manager of a restaurant near the site of the shooting, saying there was “lots of gunfire.”
Hundreds of police officers armed with machine guns, helmets or balaclavas and bulletproof vests swarmed over an area of Paris popular with, but suddenly bereft of, late night shoppers, cafe customers and dance club revellers.

“It could have been the end of me,” said Chelloug, a kitchen assistant at a restaurant in the killing zone. He said he hid behind a police vehicle after six shots from what sounded like a Kalashnikov, or AK, assault rifle.
The attacker had been driving an Audi, the witness, who declined to give his full name.
A spokesman for the interior ministry Pierre-Henry Brandet paid tribute to the fast reflexes of police at the scene who managed to kill the gunman and prevent further bloodshed on a busy spring evening.
A tourist was slightly wounded in her knee by shrapnel during the shooting, said a police source, who did not provide the woman’s nationality.
“We face a particularly high risk of terrorism,” Brandet told reporters.
France is in a state of emergency and at its highest possible level of alert since the attacks that began in 2015.
The Charlie Hebdo magazine was hit in January 2015, sites around Paris including the Bataclan concert hall were targeted in November the same year and families at a fireworks display in Nice in July last year.
In between, there have been a series of smaller attacks, often aimed at security forces.

Thousands of troops and armed police have been deployed to guard tourist hot spots such as the Champs Elysees or other potential targets including government buildings and religious sites.
In February, a man armed with a machete in each hand attacked soldiers on patrol at Paris’s Louvre Museum. The attacker, a 29-year-old Egyptian, was seriously injured.
And in March, a 39-year-old man was killed at Paris’s Orly airport after attacking a soldier.
Additional reporting by Reuters

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Paris terror attacks

Terror in Paris: Islamic State fighter dies in wild gunfight on Champs Elysees after killing police officer

Machine gunfire erupts in the heart of the Paris tourist zone, as terror suspect riddles police car with bullets

People hold their hands up as they walk towards police officers before being controlled near the site of a shooting at the Champs Elysees in Paris on April 20, 2017. French anti-terror prosecutors said they opened a probe today into the shooting on Paris's Champs Elysees that killed one police officer and wounded two others. France's interior ministry said the attacker was killed after opening fire on police in the early evening on the world-famous boulevard. / AFP PHOTO / FRANCK FIFE

Police officers check a man after the shooting on April 20, 2017 that left one officer dead and two others wounded. Photo: AFP

An armed soldier secures a side road near the Champs Elysees Avenue after two policemen were killed and another wounded in a shooting incident in Paris, France, April 20, 2017. REUTERS/Benoit Tessier

Police take positions near the Champs Elysees avenue in Paris, France, after a fatal shooting in which a police officer was killed along with an attacker, Thursday, April 20, 2017. French media are reporting that two police officers were shot Thursday on the famed shopping boulevard. Many police vehicles can be seen on the avenue that passes many of the city's most iconic landmarks. (AP Photo/Kamil Zihnioglu)

Police officers block access to the Champs Elysees in Paris, at the foot of the Arc de Triomphe, after a terrorist attack on Thursday. One police officer was killed and another wounded just days ahead of France's presidential election. France's interior ministry said the attacker was killed in the incident. Photo: EPA

French soldier shoots and wounds machete-wielding attacker at Paris Louvre

French police secure the site near the Louvre Pyramid in Paris, after a French soldier shot and wounded a man armed with a machete. Photo: Reuters

Police officers guard the access to the Louvre museum in Paris,Friday, Feb. 3, 2017. Paris police say a soldier has opened fire outside the Louvre Museum after he was attacked by someone, and the area is being evacuated. (AP Photo/Thibault Camus)

Police officers cordon off the area outside the Louvre museum near where a soldier opened fire after he was attacked in Paris, Friday, Feb. 3, 2017. Police say the soldier opened fire outside the Louvre Museum after he was attacked by someone, and the area is being evacuated. (AP Photo/Christophe Ena)

French police secure the site near the Louvre Pyramid in Paris, France, February 3, 2017 after a French soldier shot and wounded a man armed with a knife after he tried to enter the Louvre museum in central Paris carrying a suitcase, police sources said. REUTERS/Christian Hartmann

In this image made from video, a security official stands guard outside the Louvre Museum in Paris, France. Paris police said a soldier has opened fire outside the Louvre Museum. (AP Photo)

epa05768181 A police officer stands guard near the Carrousel du Louvre where a French soldier opened fire after an attempted machete attack by a man allegedly shouting 'Allahu akbar', in Paris, France, 03 February 2017. EPA/IAN LANGSDON

Neither war nor peace: how the Paris terror attacks one year ago transformed and traumatised France

People look at the “Flamme de l’espoir” (Flamme of Hope) artwork after officials unveiled the sculpture in memory of the victims of the terrorist attacks in Paris and Brussels in the Brussels district of Molenbeek on November 8, 2016. The statue entitled “Flamme de l’espoir” (The Flame of Hope) by Moroccan artist Moustapha Zoufri was unveiled in remembrance of the victims of the attacks on November 13, 2015 in Paris and on March 22, 2016 in Brussels. / AFP PHOTO / EMMANUEL DUNAND / RESTRICTED TO EDITORIAL USE - MANDATORY MENTION OF THE ARTIST UPON PUBLICATION - TO ILLUSTRATE THE EVENT AS SPECIFIED IN THE CAPTION

(FILES) This file photo taken on November 13, 2015 shows American rock group Eagles of Death Metal performing on stage on November 13, 2015 at the Bataclan concert hall in Paris, few moments before four men armed with assault rifles and shouting "Allahu akbar" ("God is great!") stormed into the venue. Islamic State jihadists on November 14, 2015 claimed a series of coordinated attacks by gunmen and suicide bombers in Paris that killed at least 128 people in scenes of carnage at the Bataclan, restaurants and the national stadium. / AFP PHOTO / ROCK&FOLK / Marion Ruszniewski

A view shows the "Le Carillon" bar almost one year after a series of attacks at several sites in Paris, France, November 7, 2016. Picture taken November 7, 2016. REUTERS/Charles Platiau

This file photo taken on November 17, 2015 shows a miniature Eiffel tower, candles and flowers displayed at a makeshift memorial outside Le Carillon cafe in Paris, in tribute to the victims of the terrorist attacks in which 130 people were killed and another 413 injured. Photo: AFP

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Machine gunfire erupts in the heart of the Paris tourist zone, as terror suspect riddles police car with bullets


Islamic militancy

.css-sioo19{color:#c79a00;}Update | Terror in Paris: Islamic State fighter dies in wild gunfight on Champs Elysees after killing police officer

.css-1c6uqr6{color:inherit;font-weight:inherit;font-size:inherit;font-family:inherit;line-height:inherit;overflow-wrap:break-word;}Machine gunfire erupts in the heart of the Paris tourist zone, as terror suspect riddles police car with bullets

Update | Terror in Paris: Islamic State fighter dies in wild gunfight on Champs Elysees after killing police officer

Machine gunfire erupts in the heart of the Paris tourist zone, as terror suspect riddles police car with bullets