Police open fire after car rams gates at scene of Paris attacks ceremony

A policeman opened fire on a car which rammed the security barrier at Les Invalides monument in Paris. The officer fired ten shots but no one was injured in the incident at the entrance to the golden-domed monument on Wednesday morning. The driver, who witnesses said was incoherent as he was questioned at the scene, was arrested. His vehicle was being checked for explosives. French president Francois Hollande paid homage at the Invalides to the victims of the attacks in Paris last month.

The car advanced around 100 metres in the first courtyrard in the direction of the Cour de’honneur, before being stopped. That’s probably the reason why the police opened fire.

Witness Claude Ribbe

The incident came hours after news that two people were arrested at a refugee centre in the Austrian city of Salzburg over the Paris attacks. The pair are suspected of belonging to a terrorist organisation and of providing help to members of the group behind the massacre, which left 130 people dead. Two other men were arrested at the same refugee camp two weeks ago on suspicion of being Islamic State militants. However, justice ministry official Christian Pilnacek played down suggestions that the two men were planning an attack. He said: “Terror is too strong a word for that.”

We are investigating possible membership of a terrorist organisation. Like so often, it is a puzzle that has to be put together piece by piece.

Justice ministry official Christian Pilnacek

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