Armed police open fire on woman who ‘made threats on train’ in France

Police in Paris have opened fire on a woman who allegedly made threatening remarks on a train, the latest security incident in the country that has been on heightened anti-terror alert since a fatal stabbing at a school blamed on an Islamic extremist.

Police said officers opened fire after she didn’t respond to their warnings. They said officers responded after several train passengers phoned the emergency services and reported that a woman was making threats and that she was wearing a face and head covering.

The woman allegedly suffered stomach injuries but the police said they had no immediate information on her condition.

It wasn’t clear what threats the woman was making but local reports suggest she shouted “Allahu akbar”, which is arabic for “God is the Greatest”.

A Metro and suburban train station that serves the Francois-Mitterrand national library in eastern Paris has been evacuated, police said.

Earlier this month, a knifeman shouting “Allahu Akbar” at Gambetta High School in the city of Arras left one teacher dead and several other people injured as former Hamas leader Khaled Meshaal called for a Day of Jihad.

In the 13 October school attack, French-language teacher Dominique Bernard was stabbed to death and three other people were wounded.

The alleged attacker had been under police surveillance on suspicion of Islamic radicalization. French anti-terror investigators said the suspect declared allegiance to the Islamic State group before the assault in the northern French town of Arras.

Local police spokesperson Axel Ronde said the officers that shot the woman this morning had “made the right decision”.

He said: “The person was extremely determined to take action and given the determination, my colleagues had no other choice, to avoid being hit by an explosion, than to neutralise her by shooting her with a firearm.

“The police officers made the right decision.”