France 24, June 19, 2017 – A car loaded with gas canisters rammed into a police van on the Champs-Elysees avenue in Paris on Monday, leaving the driver dead in what the interior minister said was an “attempted attack”.
“Security forces have been targeted in France once again,” Interior Minister Gérard Collomb said, calling the incident an “attempted attack”.
According to police sources, a Kalashnikov rifle, handguns and gas bottles were later found in the deceased suspect’s vehicle.
Bomb squads were deployed to the scene and the Paris prosecutor’s counter-terrorism unit opened an investigation into what is suspected to be a deliberate act.
“People were running every which way,” said a 51-year-old bystander who gave his name only as Alexandre. “Some shouted at me to get away.”
Police have identified the suspect as a 31-year-old man from a Paris suburb who had previously been flagged for extremism.
Aside from the driver, no other casualties were reported in the incident.
The incident comes just two months after a policeman was shot and killed on the world-renowned avenue, three days before the first round of France’s presidential election.
A note praising the Islamic State group was found next to the body of that gunman, Karim Cheurfi.
Police later found other weapons in Cheurfi’s car including a shotgun and knives.