Thursday, April 20, 2017

France: Policeman shot dead

(Paris) Three Police officers were shot tonight in the centre of Paris  with one killed and the other 2 wounded by a gunman on the Champs Elysees.

Pierre-Henry Brandet of the French interior ministry said the attacker had driven up to the site of the attack by car. He got out of the car and used an automatic weapon to fire on a police van. The attacker killed one police officer and seriously wounded two other officers. He tried to fire at others as he ran off before being shot dead by police.

The gunman has been identified as 39-year-old, Karim  Cheurfi who used the alias 'Abu Yousuf the Belgian'. He was convicted for a 2001 shooting which left two police officers seriously injured, according to reports, and was given a 20 year jail term in 2003. It appears he was released early.