‘Imminent attack on Paris churches’ foiled by French police

French police are holding a man they say was planning a terror attack on at least one church in Paris. Interior Minister Bernard Cazeneuve said the man, a 24-year-old information technology student, was arrested on Sunday after being found with a large cache of weapons and detailed attack plans. The suspect’s plans unravelled when he accidentally shot himself and called emergency services for help. When paramedics arrived, they saw the injury was a gunshot wound and notified police.

Detailed documents that were also found established beyond doubt that the individual was planning an imminent attack, probably on one or two churches.

Interior Minister Bernard Cazeneuve

An Interior Ministry source said the man, also suspected of being involved in the murder of a 32-year-old woman found dead in her car on Sunday, was an Algerian national. He had previously come to the attention of the French authorities as possibly wanting to go to Syria. Police had made checks on him in 2014 and 2015 without finding anything that would warrant further investigation.

Europe