Man shot dead at police station
Investigation opened after police say man attacked them with meat cleaver on anniversary of Charlie Hebdo killings
AN INVESTIGATION has begun after a man was shot dead after he tried to enter a police station in Paris armed with a meat cleaver.
The incident happened yesterday morning at the commissariat in Barbès, on the anniversary of the Charlie Hebdo killings.
Police say a man they described as “menacing” and armed with a meat cleaver and a fake suicide bomb vest attempted to attack a police officer at the entrance of the building while shouting “Allahu Ackbar”.
According to state prosecutor, François Molins a mobile phone was found on the man and a piece of paper with the flag of Daesh pledging allegiance to Islamic State and justifying his actions as retaliation for attacks on Syria.
The man, who had no form of identification on him was later identified as an individual born in Casablanca in 1995. He had previously been arrested for theft in 2013.
An anti-terrorism investigation has begun, however the justice minister Christiane Taubira has already urged caution about jumping to conclusions, saying that the man had on the face of it no previous links with violent radical groups.
“We know that there is a heavy atmosphere and that people who have fragile mental states, I haven’t said that this is the case with this person, but people with fragile mental states can act in this way… the investigation will clear up all this,” she said in an interview on iTélé.
After the shooting local residents were warned to stay indoors.
