Police of Paris opened fire on a woman on Tuesday suspecting her of making death threats and statements in support of terrorism aboard a train heading to the capital.
It is the latest security incident in a country that has been on heightened anti-terrorism alert since a deadly school stabbing on October 13, in which an Islamic extremist was accused.
A police investigation was launched to establish what exactly the woman had said while travelling on the RER C suburban train to Paris. The local prosecutor’s office announced the collection of witness testimony.
The prosecutor’s office stated that police fired one shot, seriously injuring the woman, after which she was hospitalised for emergency treatment. She was wearing a long robe, known as an abaya, which is mostly worn by Muslims.
Another police investigation was opened into the shooting, which happens automatically when officers use their firearms. According to police, officers responded after several passengers on the train called emergency services to report that a woman was making threats.
Officers waited for the woman at a metro station and commuter train in the eastern part of Paris, which maintains the François Mitterrand National Library. According to the agency, the shot was fired after she refused to obey police orders.
Earlier on October 13, French teacher Dominique Bernard was stabbed to death and three other people were injured. The alleged attacker was under police surveillance on suspicion of Islamic radicalisation. French counter-terrorism investigators claimed the suspect had pledged allegiance to the Islamic State group before the attack in the northern French city of Arras.
