Skip to main content
France

French police open fire after car smashes Tour de France barrier

French police opened fire Sunday at a car which smashed through a security barrier in central Paris close to the finishing line of cycling's Tour de France, a police source told news agency AFP.

French police look for evidence after the security cordon, installed for the arrival of the Tour de France, was violated.
French police look for evidence after the security cordon, installed for the arrival of the Tour de France, was violated. Reuters/Stephane Mahe
Advertising

Police shot at the car in an attempt to stop it after it sped away from a nearby checkpoint.

No one is believed to have been hit, and police stressed there had been no exchange of fire but a "refusal to comply".

The bullet-pocked car was found abandoned nearby in the city’s eighth arrondissement, a source close to the investigation told AFP.

Authorities were searching for the driver after the incident, which happened at around 8:00 am (0600 GMT) at the Place de la Concorde at the end of the famous Champs Elysees, where the race is to finish later Sunday.

A police source told AFP that witnesses saw two men and two women leaving the vehicle.

An investigation has opened by the Paris judicial police to find the fugitive and, as is customary in France in cases of shots fired by security forces, the General Inspectorate of the National Police has also opened an investigation.

Security in the French capital has been heightened for months following jihadist attacks which claimed 17 lives that began with the massacre at the satirical weekly Charlie Hebdo.

Daily newsletterReceive essential international news every morning

Keep up to date with international news by downloading the RFI app

Share :
Page not found

The content you requested does not exist or is not available anymore.