- Title: Champs Elysees incident appears deliberate act: French interior ministry
- Date: 19th June 2017
- Summary: PARIS, FRANCE (JUNE 19, 2017) (REUTERS) VARIOUS POLICE AND POLICE VEHICLES IN STREET (SOUNDBITE) (French) POLICE SPOKESWOMAN, JOHANNA PRIMEVERT, SAYING: "Today, around 15:40, a mobile police squadron was going down the Champs-Elysees, a Renault Megane vehicle overtook it on the right and struck against the front vehicle of the squadron. The Renault Megane vehicle started to catch fire. The police started an intervention, and created a security perimeter. There is no police officer nor civilian wounded. The man could be dead. There is an ongoing mine-clearing operation. And he was very likely armed." POLICE OFFICERS AND POLICE VANS (SOUNDBITE) (French) FRENCH INTERIOR MINISTRY SPOKESMAN, PIERRE-HENRY BRANDET, SAYING: "It looks like it was a deliberate act of the man. The man who struck the front vehicle was extracted by the police officers who created the security perimeter." POLICE VANS DRIVING DOWN ROAD (SOUNDBITE) (French) FRENCH INTERIOR MINISTRY SPOKESMAN, PIERRE-HENRY BRANDET, SAYING: "The public prosecutor referred the matter to the anti-terrorism department of Paris, and to the anti-terrorism section of the criminal brigade and also to the General Direction of the Interior Security. And it is the public prosecutor and his services, Francois Molins and the public prosecutor's department, who will speak about the outcome of the investigation in an appropriate time. Here is what we can say for now on this ongoing police operation." POLICE VANS
- Embargoed: 3rd July 2017 16:22
- Keywords: Police France Champs-Elysees car fire security attack
- Location: PARIS, FRANCE
- City: PARIS, FRANCE
- Country: France
- Topics: Crime/Law/Justice
- Reuters ID: LVA0016LY3HAF
- Aspect Ratio: 16:9
- Story Text: EDITORS PLEASE NOTE: VIDEO QUALITY PART AS INCOMING
The attack against a police squadron in Paris on Monday (June 19) was a deliberate act, French Interior ministry spokesman Pierre-Henry Brandet told reporters.
A French police vehicle was hit on Monday by a car on the Champs Elysees avenue and the driver was arrested, police said, adding that no officers or bystanders were injured and the situation was under control.
The man driving the car was likely dead, a police spokeswoman said.
Brandet added an investigation has been opened and is led by the anti-terrorism department in Paris.
Police cordoned off the area only a short walk away from Elysees presidential palace and the U.S. embassy, Reuters reporters on site said.
France has been on high security alert following a series of terrorist attacks in recent years, including the shooting of a policeman in an Islamic State-claimed attack on a police bus on the Champs Elysees in April. - Copyright Holder: REUTERS
- Copyright Notice: (c) Copyright Thomson Reuters 2017. Open For Restrictions - http://about.reuters.com/fulllegal.asp
- Usage Terms/Restrictions: None
