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A French policeman has been shot dead and two others wounded in central Paris in an attack carried out days before presidential elections and quickly claimed by the Islamic State militant group.
Key points:
- Police targeted in attack but motive still unknown, French authorities say
- Attacker's identity yet to be established, police say
- Interior Ministry says a "weapon of war" was used against police
Paris police spokeswoman Johanna Primevert said the attacker targeted police guarding the area near the Franklin D Roosevelt metro stop on the Champs Elysees on Thursday night (local time) at the centre of the avenue, which is popular with tourists.
One witness was walking on the pavement nearby when the gunman appeared.
"There was a bus full of police. The man parked just in front of the bus and then he got out a Kalashnikov and then he shot six times," the witness said.
"I thought it was fireworks. Then he hid behind a truck."
French Interior Ministry spokesman Pierre-Henry Brandet said police officers were targeted in the shooting, but it was too early to say what the motive was.
Mr Brandet said a second policeman had not died of his wounds, as had been earlier reported.
But he said apart from the policeman killed on the spot by the attacker, two police officers had been seriously wounded. The gunman was also shot dead.
"An automatic weapon was used against police, a weapon of war," Mr Brandet said, adding that the "terrorist threat" in the country remained high.
Mr Brandet said the shooting started at shortly after 9pm when a car stopped alongside a police car at a red light.
"A man immediately got out and opened fire on the police car, fatally wounding a police officer," he said.
"He also wounded a second one, it would seem very seriously."
The identity of the attacker had not yet been definitely established, he said.
French President Francois Hollande said the nation's security was at stake and convened a crisis meeting.
"Our security forces, our police, our military police will remain on the highest state of alert as has been the case for a few months," he said.
Islamic State claimed responsibility for the attack via the group's Amaq news agency.
It identified the attacker as one of its soldiers, naming him as Belgian Abu Yousif.
Authorities called on the public to avoid the area.
New shots were fired near Champs Elysees avenue, more than an hour after the original shooting, a police source said.
The counter-terrorism office has opened an investigation into the shooting, the prosecutor's office said.
France goes to the polls on Sunday in the first round of a closely fought presidential election.
There is still no further word on the identity or motivation of the gunman, but jihadism has been a major issue in the campaign.
France has lived under a state of emergency since 2015 and has suffered a spate of Islamist militant attacks that have killed more than 230 people in the past two years.
Earlier this week, two men were arrested in Marseille whom police said had been planning an attack ahead of the election.
A machine gun, two hand guns and three kilograms of explosives were among the weapons found at a flat in the southern city along with jihadist propaganda materials, according to the Paris prosecutor.
ABC/wires
Topics: police, murder-and-manslaughter, terrorism, france
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