Officers opened hearth after the person brandished a gun that was later discovered to be pretend
French police shot and critically wounded a person who pointed a pretend gun at officers after being caught spray-painting swastikas at a Paris practice station, native media reported on Monday. A bystander was additionally injured within the incident, which occurred on the Austerlitz station within the French capital.
In keeping with studies citing the Paris Prosecutor’s Workplace, police approached the person after receiving complaints that he was vandalizing the partitions contained in the station. When requested to cease, the person reached into his jacket and brandished a gun, the Prosecutor’s Workplace stated, citing video surveillance footage. The railway officers responded by firing “a number of” bullets on the man, hitting him within the stomach.
The suspect, stated to be a 49-year-old of Syrian descent, was taken to the hospital in a vital situation. He was declared “mind useless” round 7pm native time, Le Parisien reported, citing the authorities. No additional details about the person has to this point been made public.
One of many bullets fired by the railway officers ricocheted, hitting a taxi driver who was contained in the station. He was injured within the foot and brought to the hospital, though his situation is steady.
🔴 Deux blessés par balles gare d’Austerlitz à Paris : des brokers de la sûreté ferroviaire ont ouvert le feu sur un homme armé qui venait de taguer une croix gammée. #JT20hpic.twitter.com/xbIeCyuPd7
— Le20h-France Télévisions (@le20hfrancetele) February 3, 2025
The person’s gun was later discovered to be pretend, though the Prosecutor’s Workplace stated this was unknown to officers once they shot him. Two investigations have been launched into the incident, one in every of which is able to probe the officers’ actions whereas the opposite will examine the actions of the suspect.
🚨 ALERTE INFO – L’individu qui a été blessé par balles par la sûreté ferroviaire alors qu’il taguait des croix gammées dans la Gare d’Austerlitz est en ÉTAT DE MORT CÉRÉBRALE. L’individu était équipé d’une arme factice. (BFMTV) pic.twitter.com/7zFVFQDQOn
— Focus (@FocusFR_) February 3, 2025
The Austerlitz station was closed to the general public for a number of hours after the incident, and practice site visitors was disrupted whereas police and counter-terrorist Vigipirate officers labored on the scene.
France has been on a most terrorism alert since final 12 months. Olivier Christen, the French nationwide antiterrorism prosecutor, stated in December that his division had launched over 600 investigations into suspected terror plots in 2024, practically double the quantity for 2023, and had thwarted 9 deliberate assaults.
