Orly Airport Attacker Shot Dead After Seizing Soldier’s Gun

Security forces at Paris’ Orly airport have killed a man after he tried to seize a soldier’s weapon, French officials say.

The man, named as “Ziyed B”, was shot dead on March 18 after attacking a patrol in the airport’s south terminal.

Earlier in the day, the man had been involved in a shooting and then a carjacking in the Paris area.

Prosecutors have opened an anti-terror investigation. Ziyed B had been reported as radicalized in the past, and was on a police watch-list.

The man had a long criminal record including convictions for armed robbery, French media report.

The attack comes at a sensitive time. France has presidential elections starting next month and remains under a state of emergency.

Early in the morning, the suspect was stopped at a checkpoint in Garges-les-Gonesse, north of Paris, where he reportedly lives.

Ziyed B fired at police with a pellet gun before escaping in a car that was later found abandoned.

Police say the man then stole a car at gunpoint from a woman at Vitry, south of Paris. That car was later found at Orly airport.

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