A "radicalised Muslim" man on a terror watch list has been shot dead at Paris' Orly airport after trying to steal a soldier's firearm, just hours after he shot a police officer in the face. French Interior Minister Bruno Le Roux told reporters that the man failed to snatch the soldier's automatic assault rifle and was killed at the airport south of Paris. The attacker - identified by French media as Ziyed Ben Belgacem - approached three patrol members of the Air Force and wrestled a female soldier to the ground as he tried to seize her weapon.
She held on and the other two soldiers opened fire. Authorities say the year-old, a French national who was born in the Paris area, was the same man who shot a police officer with an air gun in the capital's northern outskirts and carjacked a woman at gunpoint earlier Saturday morning. Police sources told Reuters he was a "radicalised Muslim known to intelligence services". Mr Le Roux later confirmed the man was known to police and intelligence officers, and his spokesman said terror was a "possible" motive.
The attack occurred as the Duke and Duchess of Cambridge made a two-day visit to Paris and prepared to meet victims of recent terror attacks. During the ensuing operation anti-terror police evacuated Orly and did a sweep of the deserted airport in search of potential accomplices or explosives.
No explosives were found on the man's body or elsewhere inside the airport. A CCTV image showed his body on the floor in front of a bakery in the south terminal moments after he was shot dead. The female soldier was uninjured and was "doing fine" after the "extremely violent" attack, a French Army spokesperson said. A photo published by Le Figaro showed the man's body on the floor.
Police later detained the suspect's father and brother for questioning, and raided the man's home in the suburb of Garges-les-Gonesse.
