In a security incident amid France’s elevated anti-terrorism alert status following a recent fatal school stabbing, French police have shot and wounded a woman who was allegedly making threats at a train station in Paris.
According to a police source, the woman, wearing a Muslim headscarf, made threats and shouted “Allahu Akbar” (God is the greatest). Police resorted to firing their weapons, expressing concerns for their safety.
A passenger on the suburban train promptly alerted the emergency services, reporting the woman’s threatening behavior. Subsequently, the police isolated her at a metro and train station serving the François Mitterrand national library in southeastern Paris.
The Paris prosecutor’s office disclosed that the woman had made threats to blow herself up, resulting in the police firing a single shot that inflicted a life-threatening injury.
Two investigations have been initiated, one examining the woman’s actions and another evaluating the justification for the police’s use of firearms.
As a result of the incident, the station was closed, and traffic on the suburban rail line was disrupted.
France has maintained an “attack alert” status since October 13 when a teacher in the northern city of Arras was tragically stabbed to death by a former student in an act the government classified as an Islamist terror attack.