Police in Paris have shot a woman after she reportedly threatened to detonate herself and made death threats while onboard a train. Two officers fired a total of eight shots, seriously wounding the woman, at a train station, the Paris prosecutor’s office reported.
This episode adds to the string of security concerns in France, which has seen an increased anti-terror alert level following a fatal school stabbing on 13 October.
The injured woman has been taken to a hospital for urgent care. The prosecutor’s office is currently investigating the exact statements the woman allegedly made on the RER C suburban train and will collect testimony from witnesses.
The woman, dressed in an abaya (a long robe), could face charges including making death threats, endorsing terrorism, and displaying intimidating behavior towards the police. Olivier Veran, the French government spokesman, stated the woman’s comments seemed to have Islamist undertones, alarming fellow passengers.
After multiple passengers alerted emergency services about the woman’s threats, police awaited her at an eastern Paris train station near the François Mitterrand national library. When she failed to comply with police orders, officers resorted to firing at her. Subsequent investigations revealed she wasn’t carrying any explosives, according to Paris police chief Laurent Nunez.
A separate inquiry into the police’s use of firearms has been initiated, as is standard procedure when officers discharge their weapons.
