A knifeman was shot dead by French police on Wendesday morning in a packed terminal at the largest airport in Paris.
The killing happened at Charles de Gaulle airport soon after 8am, after reports about the man “acting aggressively” in front of officers.
“He was considered a threat inside terminal 2F,” said an investigating source. “Police opened fire, and he died from his wounds.”
“Officers had asked the man to put down his knife, but he continually refused, and then ran towards officers. This is when live fire was used. No officers were injured.”
A spokesman for the Paris police prefecture said: “Demonstrating composure, officers neutralised a threatening individual in possession of a knife at Roissy, Charles de Gaulle airport.”
The spokesman said a PAF Border Police officer had carried out the killing on the man, who was in his 40s and of ‘Afro-Caribbean origin’.
The man – who shot in the stomach – was well known for wandering around the airport and threatening people, the spokesman added.
Charles de Gaulle is the largest international airport in France, and the 9th busiest in the world.
It is particularly busy in the August high season, with passengers arriving from all over the world, including the UK.
The shooting follows a series of bomb, gun and knife attacks carried out by Islamic State and al-Qaeda operatives in France, dating back to early 2015.
The deadliest single terrorist attack ever in the country came in November 2015 when 130 innocent people were killed in Paris.
Suicide bombers pledging allegiance to ISIS targeted the Stade de France, cafes, restaurants and the Bataclan music venue, where 90 died.
Earlier in the year, two Paris-born gunmen linked to Al-Qaeda broke into the offices of the Charlie Hebdo satirical magazine, leaving 17 people dead inside and three outside.
In July 2016, 86 people were called and more than 400 injured when a 19-tonne truck was deliberately driven into crowds on the seafront promenade at Nice, which is just 20 miles from Cannes.
The terrorist turned out to be a Tunisian immigrant who was shot dead by police.
During the same month, two Isis terrorists murdered an 86-year-old Catholic priest during a church service in Normandy.
And in October 2020, three people were stabbed to death by a Tunisian immigrant in the Notre Dame basilica in Nice.
There have also been frequent knife attacks on the forces of law and order, leading to the deaths of serving police.
