France police shoot woman in Paris train station after bomb threat

Paris police opened fire Tuesday on a woman who threatened to blow herself up after allegedly making death threats and speaking in support of terrorism on a suburban train heading into the French capital.

It was the latest security incident in France, which has been on heightened anti-terror alert since a fatal stabbing at a school on October 13 blamed on an Islamic extremist.

Officers stopped the woman at a Metro and suburban train station in eastern Paris that serves the François Mitterrand national library.

Police fired one shot, hitting and seriously injuring her, the Paris prosecutor’s office said. It said she was hospitalised for emergency treatment.

No explosive device was found on her, according to the newspaper Le Parisien, citing the police.

The woman had shouted “God is great” in Arabic, the report said.

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Phrases she also reportedly used included “You’re all going to get it” and “Boom”, said Paris police chief Laurent Nunez.

The prosecutor’s office said the woman is facing potential charges of making death threats, of defending terrorism and of intimidating behaviour directed at police.

She was dressed in a long robe, known as an abaya, the office said. Abayas are mainly worn by Muslims.

Police were verifying the identity of the woman, who was not carrying ID papers, but she is thought to have been arrested previously for threatening behaviour in 2021 and then hospitalised for apparent mental health problems, said Nunez.

The fully veiled woman was shot in the abdomen and was taken to a hospital, broadcaster France Info reported.

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According to the prosecutor’s office, two investigations have been initiated, one against the woman for her threats and another against the officers for their use of firearms, which automatically happens when used.

France has stepped up security since the October 13 school attack in the northern town of Arras. French-language teacher Dominique Bernard was stabbed to death and three other people were wounded.

The alleged attacker in that case had been under police surveillance on suspicion of Islamic radicalisation. French anti-terror investigators said the suspect declared allegiance to the Islamic State group before the assault.

Additional reporting by Associated Press