Far-right activist Dominique Venner, commits suicide in Notre Dame
Historian Dominique Venner shoots himself dead at the altar of famous Paris cathedral
Police evacuated Paris' Notre Dame cathedral yesterday after a well-known far-right former activist committed suicide by shooting himself through his mouth in front of its main altar, a police source said.
Dominique Venner, 78, a historian known in France for his political essays, was carrying a letter but did not say anything before he shot himself dead in the mid-afternoon, the source said.
Venner, who had recently been campaigning against gay marriage in France, is said to have calmly walked past crowds milling around the 850-year-old cathedral, one of the most popular tourist sites in the world, before taking out a Herstal automatic pistol.
The cathedral was full of visitors when the horrific incident took place at around 4pm.
"There was screaming and lots of shouting following a loud bang," said one witness.
"People were naturally very scared and began to run out in panic."