Barbes shooting: Paris police gun down man in fake suicide vest 'shouting Allahu Akbar' - live updates
Police tell people to stay indoors as bomb squad is called, with the interior ministry investigating possible terrorist incident
Here's what we know:
- One officer injured as a man is shot dead by police outside a station in northern Paris
- Union sources tell French media the man 'had a knife' and attempted to enter the station
- Interior ministry says man shouted 'Allahu Akbar', treating incident as 'terrrorism'
- Incident took place in the Barbes area of northern Paris, near Montmartre
- Officials say man was wearing an apparent explosive vest, which turns out to be a 'fake'
- Local residents were told to stay indoors as bomb squad inspected body with robot
- Incident comes on anniversary of Charlie Hebdo massacre, amid commemorations and heightened security across capital
- Just moments earlier, Hollande gives speech praising police for sacrifice keeping people safe
- In a statement, the Paris prosecutor's office confirmed it was opening a terror investigation into the incident in Barbes after a search of the man's body.The apparent would-be assailant, who was carrying a large butcher's knife and wearing a fake explosives belt, was found to be carrying a mobile phone and a piece of paper carrying an emblem associated with the Isis jihadist group.The man was also carrying a "claim of responsibility" written in Arabic, though the prosecutor's statement provided no further details about its exact wording.Officials stated that the man cried out "Allahu akbar" when he approached officers at 11.30am this morning local time.
- 19 minutes agoA piece of paper with the Isis flag and a claim of responsibility written on it, as well as a mobile phone, have been found on the body of the attacker, the Paris prosecutor says.
- 29 minutes agoDonald Trump, the Republican US Presidential candidate, is being ridiculed (again) on Twitter for getting his facts on the attack completely wrong.Using it and the mass sexual assaults in Cologne on New Year's Eve to further his anti-immigration stance, he wrongly tweeted that the man was shot inside the police station.
- 35 minutes agoPublic transport is reportedly resuming in northern Paris after being disrupted by the incident.Two metro lines and some bus services near the police station had been affected and a helicopter was still hovering over the closed off area this afternoon.
A nearby resident, Nora Borrias, was unable to get home because of the barricades.Shaken by the incident, she told the Associated Press:It's like the Charlie Hebdo affair isn't over
- 37 minutes ago
Man 'shouting Allah Akbar and wearing fake suicide belt' shot dead outside Paris police station
The IndependentA man reportedly shouting “Allah Akbar “ and wearing a fake explosives belt has been shot dead outside a police station in Paris - a year after the jihadist massacre at Charlie Hebdo magazine. The man attacked and slighty injured a policeman outside the station in the Goutte d’Or district in northern Paris. A police source said his colleagues had opened fire when the attacker appeared to put his hand to his jacket. - an hour agoFrench officials say they are not looking for other suspects and the Barbes area is starting to return to normal.Two Metro lines and some bus services that were disrupted in the wake of the incident are running again, though the nearest station remains closed.Interior ministry spokesman Pierre-Henry Brandet told AP that police believe only one man, who was shot dead at the scene after threatening police with a knife and while wearing a fake explosives vest, was involved in the incident.
- 2 hours agoPolice are extending the security cordon around the site of the incident, sparking fears there may be other assailants at large.Officials have been quoted in French media saying they have no specific reason to believe there may be other suspects, but the police are not ruling out the possibility of wider "complicity".Shops have been shut in the wider Barbes area and residents asked to remain in their homes, and around an hour after the attack officers cleared hundreds of people from the wider neighbourhood including people gathered at a subway station and along nearby streets.
- 2 hours agoLuc Poignant, a French police union official, has told reports the individual shot by police "wanted to create the impression of an attack".Two officers involved in the investigation said the man was wearing what looked like an explosive vest, with wires coming out of his coat, but it later emerged it was fake.Another official, speaking anonymously to the Associated Press, said police were investigating the incident at the Paris police station as "more likely terrorism" than a standard criminal incident.
- 3 hours agoThe apparent attack on the police station in northern Paris occurred just a few minutes after President Hollande, speaking elsewhere in the city, finished paying homage to officers killed in the line of duty a year ago today.On the anniversary of the Charlie Hebdo attack, Mr Hollande called for better surveillance of "radicalised" citizens who are suspected of joining jihadist groups and then return to France."We must be able to force these people —and only these people— to fulfill certain obligations and if necessary to put them under house arrest ... because they are dangerous," he said.
Three police officers were among the 17 dead in the attacks last January, which ended after two days of bloodshed in the Paris region.
Hollande said officers die in the line of duty "so that we can live free."
Survivors of the January attacks, were among those speaking on the anniversary today.Cartoonist Laurent Sourisseau, the editor-in-chief of Charlie Hebdo and known by his pen name Riss, told France Inter radio "security is a new expense for the newspaper budget."
"This past year we've had to invest nearly 2 million euros to secure our office, which is an enormous sum," he said. "We have to spend hundreds of thousands on surveillance of our offices, which wasn't previously in Charlie's budget, but we had an obligation so that employees feel safe and can work safely."
After the attacks, people around the world embraced the expression "Je suis Charlie" to express solidarity with the slain journalists, targeted for the paper's caricatures of the Prophet Muhammad.
"It's a phrase that was used during the march as a sign of emotion or resistance to terrorism," Charlie Hebdo cartoonist Corinne Rey — known as Coco — told France Inter radio. "And little by little, I realized that 'I am Charlie' was misused for so many things. And now I don't really know what it means." - 3 hours agoThe body has now been covered by a sheet, and there is a huge police presence at the scene. Anna Polonyi continues to tweet from the scene:
- 3 hours agoThere are images circulating taken from flats above the police station which show a body lying on the floor, a large machete-like knife with a wooden handle lying on the ground nearby.It is difficult to see any details of the "explosive vest" the attacker wore, which officials say was a fake, as he is wearing a large coat with a dark grey camouflage-style pattern.Another image shows a bomb squad robot approaching the body to inspect it.We aren't going to carry those images as they show a dead body, but others have tweeted pictures showing the general scene.Attack in #Barbes! A guy was shooter by the police when he tried to attack then https://t.co/WpkDaLdrEHEn direct : un homme abattu devant un commissariat de police à Paris - Le Figaro https://t.co/YPUsazOl2y https://t.co/gRC8DDqBqhLe dispositif de sécurité est élargi. Des commerçants décident de fermer boutique #barbes @francetvinfo https://t.co/2zfLwSa5zC
- 3 hours agoWitnesses on the scene say the bomb squad robot has been and gone and confirmed the attacker was wearing a "dummy" vest. Six officers are now investigating the body.
- 3 hours agoFrench media: Man shot by police was wearing a "fake" explosive vest.
- 3 hours agoWith Paris in a state of high alert since the shootings in November, armed officers have been standing guard as a very visible security presence outside the police station at Barbes for weeks.Situated between the busy La Chapelle and Barbès – Rochechouart Metro stations, the area has a prominent African community and is popular with tourists visiting nearby Montmartre.
- 3 hours agoThe incident came on the anniversary of the Charlie Hebdo shootings, when a pair of extremist gunmen stormed the offices of satirical newspaper Charlie Hebdo, killing 11 people inside and a policeman outside.Just a short while ago, the French president Francois Hollande said what he calls a "terrorist threat" continues to weigh on the country, which was struck a year ago by Islamic extremists.In a speech to police forces, Mr Hollande said the government was passing new laws and ramping up security, but the threat remained high.Three police officers in total were among the 17 dead in the attacks last January, which ended after two days of bloodshed in the Paris region.Mr Hollande said officers die in the line of duty "so that we can live free".
- 3 hours agoOfficials say Paris police are investigating the Barbes incident as a possible act of "terrorism".
An eye witness has been quoted by the interior ministry as saying the man shouted "Allahu Akbar" before he was shot three times by an officer armed with a revolver. - 3 hours agoAccording to iTele, the interior minister Bernard Cazeneuve is on his way to the scene.
They are also reporting that the man was armed with "a knife and a device that could be an explosive vest". - 3 hours agoBomb squad officers are using a robot to inspect the body. Police sources have said the man was seen wearing a belt of some kind - whether its an explosive belt remains to be seen.
- 3 hours agoAnna Polonyi, the editor of the International New York Times, tweeted from an apartment above the scene. She said her sister "saw this man running towards the station before being shot down".
Residents are believed to have been told to stay indoors, while the road has been cordoned off and bomb squads called in. - 4 hours agoPolice union sources told French media that the man, who is widely suspected to have also been armed with an explosives vest, tried to enter the police station in the Barbès area of the 18th arrondissement, near Montmartre.
- 4 hours agoA man has been shot dead by officers in northern Paris after he reportedly ran at a police station armed with a knife.
- 4 hours agoWelcome to The Independent's live blog on the shooting of a man outside a police station in Paris.
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