Paris police shoot woman who threatened train suicide bomb
French police have shot and injured a woman suspected of threatening to detonate an explosive device on a train in Paris, authorities said on Tuesday.
The woman was seriously injured after being hit by a single shot, the Paris Prosecutor’s Office said, adding the suspect had been taken to a local hospital for emergency treatment. The woman, who was reportedly known to Parisian authorities, was wearing a long abaya robe traditionally worn by Muslims, according to officials.
“The police officers made the right decision,” law enforcement spokesperson Axel Ronde told French outlet BFMTV. “The person was extremely determined to take action and given the determination, my colleagues had no other choice, to avoid being hit by an explosion, than to neutralize her by shooting her with a firearm.”
The shooting occurred at the Bibliotheque Francois-Mitterrand Metro station in Paris at around 9:20am local time, some 50 minutes after the suspect had been isolated by police, BFMTV said. Several passengers on the train had notified the emergency services that the woman was making terrorist threats.
No explosives were found at the scene, BFMTV added.
Prosecutors stated that a police investigation has been opened to determine what the suspect is alleged to have said on the RER C suburban train, which will include the taking of witness testimonies. The female suspect faces possible charges related to making death threats, condoning terrorism, and directing intimidating behavior at police, according to the Associated Press.
A separate investigation has been opened into the circumstances surrounding the discharging of the officer’s firearm, which is customary in France. The shot was fired after the woman failed to obey orders issued by police, the AP added.
The incident comes as the EU state remains on a heightened anti-terror alert since October 13, when French-language teacher Dominique Bernard was stabbed to death and three other people were injured at a school in the northern town of Arras. The suspected attacker was under police surveillance and is suspected to have undergone Islamic radicalization.
