French police down supermarket gunman


FE Team | Published: March 23, 2018 18:08:21 | Updated: March 24, 2018 18:06:11


French police down supermarket gunman

French police on Friday have shot a suspect who took hostages at a supermarket in the southern France town of Trèbes.

The gunman, supposedly Moroccan and have killed at least three people, is now dead.

According to sources obtained by BBC, the gunman has pledged allegiance to militant outfit Islamic State (IS).

Earlier, a gunman entered a supermarket in Trèbes  and is believed to have killed at least two people during a hostage-taking situation. Many others were wounded.

A policeman was also shot and injured while jogging with colleagues in Carcassonne, a 15-minute drive away.

He was shot in the shoulder by the same suspect involved in the supermarket hostage-taking.

Trèbes Mayor Eric Menassi told BFM TV other hostages were freed before the gunman was shot.

The suspect, heavily armed has asked for the release of Salah Abdeslam, the most important surviving suspect in the 13 November 2015 Paris attacks, which killed 130 people.

France has been hit with several deadly jihadist attacks since 2015 and has been on high alert since. A state of emergency put in place after the 2015 attacks in Paris was lifted in October.

In February, Salah Abdeslam went on trial in Belgium over a shootout in Brussels that led to his capture months after the Paris attacks. He is not expected to go on trial in France until 2020 at the earliest.

Share if you like