Champs Élysées Reopens After Shooting
by Jessica Montevago
The police barriers have been taken down, and Paris’s iconic Champs Élysées has reopened; it was closed on Thursday evening after a gunman shot and killed a policeman and injured three others. The gunman himself was killed in a shootout with police.
The popular tourist area last night was filled with police cars and investigators, followed by municipal workers in white hygiene suits washing down the sidewalk, according to the Associated Press.
French President François Hollande called the attack “of a terrorist nature,” and said French security forces will be working to investigate the motive and any accomplices who may have played a role.
ISIS issued a statement saying the shooter was an Islamic State “fighter,” but officials have not yet confirmed his background and motive. France will remain on high alert due to past terror threats, but authorities believe this was an isolated incident.
The shooter was identified as Karim Cheurfi, according to CNN, and three member’s of his family have been arrested. French media reported that he was recently the subject of a counterterrorism investigation.
The attacker pulled up to a police van guarding the area near the Franklin Roosevelt subway station and started shooting.
