Paris officer ‘between life and death’ after police station shooting
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PARIS - One of two officers shot and seriously wounded by an attacker at a police station in Paris was fighting for his life on May 10, as senior officials expressed their support.
On the evening of May 9, a man who was arrested for allegedly attacking a woman with a box cutter shot the two officers in the French capital’s 13th district after grabbing one of their weapons.
One of the two policemen, shot in the abdomen, was “between life and death” on the morning of May 10, said Paris Police Prefect Laurent Nunez. The other officer was injured in the back, said a police source. Both are aged 33.
Mr Nunez told reporters that the 32-year-old suspect was arrested at around 10pm for a “very violent attack on a woman”. “The man was obviously very agitated,” he said.
The policemen took the suspect to the police station and had him blow into a breathalyser when the attacker managed to grab a gun.
Both the suspect, who was wounded by return fire, and the 73-year-old woman he allegedly attacked were taken to hospital.
Mr Nunez said an investigation was under way to establish the circumstances surrounding the incident. He did not identify the suspect, who was not previously known to police and justice.
A police source described the attacker as an “Asian” male.
Reached by AFP, the prosecutor’s office said three investigations have been opened – one into the “attempted murder of the woman”, and one into the “attempted murder of persons holding public authority”.
The third was being carried out by the IGPN, the national police’s internal affairs department, to look into the use of “intentional violence with a weapon by a person holding public authority”, as is routine when an officer uses their weapon.
Neither the prefect nor the public prosecutor talked about how the attacker managed to get hold of the service weapon of one of the officers.
Neighbourhood patrol officers are equipped with Sig Sauer 9mm semi-automatic pistols.
The loaded weapon was carried by the officer in “a double safety holster”, a senior police officer said.
Interior Minister Gerald Darmanin said on X: “Our thoughts and support are with them as they remain in hospital.” He said the full circumstances had yet to be determined.
Paris Mayor Anne Hidalgo said: “My thoughts are with them, their families and loved ones. Paris stands by them.”
Police union representatives said the shooting was just the latest example of the dangers faced by officers every day.
“There is no such thing as a small mission,” Ms Linda Kebbab, national secretary of the Un1te police union, said on X.
The Alliance union said it offers its “full support”, adding that “no controversy should obscure the fact that our two colleagues almost lost their lives after saving the life of a victim”.
The shooting comes with France on a high state of security alert ahead of the Olympic Games
