Champs Elysees Terrorist Attack: Police Officer Killed, 2 Seriously Injured

Local Editor

A shooting incident took place in central Paris, killing a police officer and seriously injuring two others, the French Interior Ministry reported.

For his part, French President Francois Hollande said the shooting was of "terrorist nature" as Daesh [the Arabic acronym for the Takfiri ‘ISIS/ISIL' group] claimed responsibility.

The shooting took place on the central boulevard of Champs Elysees. The suspected attacker was also killed in the shootout, police said.

Addressing the nation following a crisis meeting at the presidential palace, Hollande said that all leads indicate that the attack was of a "terrorist nature."

Hollande assured the public that "we will be absolutely vigilant" during the upcoming presidential election.

He announced that a security council will convene for a meeting at 8am on Friday, adding that "a national tribute" would be paid to the slain police officer.

Police are currently conducting raids in the area, the prosecutor's office said, adding that they seek to establish whether the shooter had any accomplices.

Meanwhile, the French Interior Ministry confirmed that the life of the police officer, who was heavily injured during the attack, is no longer in danger.

"The identity of the attacker is known and has been checked. I will not give it because investigations with raids are ongoing. The investigators want to be sure whether he had or did not have accomplices", Paris prosecutor Francois Molins told reporters.

Relatively, the French Interior Ministry earlier confirmed in a Tweet that the attacker targeted a police bus parked on the boulevard.

The gunman who killed the police officer was already known to law enforcement services, police confirmed without revealing the identity of the attacker.

Also a woman, reportedly a foreign citizen, has suffered minor injuries as result of the attack, Molins told BMF TV.

Source: News Agencies, Edited by website team