ISIS claimed responsibility for the attack last night (Thursday) on the famous Avenue des Champs Elysées in Paris. In the attack, one policeman was killed, two policemen were seriously wounded and one was slightly injured.
Mehdi, a media consultant who witnessed what had happened said: “I heard shots and I went to see what was happening … I saw two bodies on the ground and people were shouting and running in all directions, I was afraid and I left everything, I did not even pay the bill.”
Another woman in a nearby restaurant said: “No one understood what was going on, the waiters told us to leave the back of the restaurant, but there was no exit, so we hid in the yard. Another restaurant on the avenue said they hid their customers in the basement.
The police revealed that the terrorist was Karim Sharafi, 39, who lived in eastern Paris. According to media reports, the terrorist was known to the police having previosly shot policemen who tried arresting him 15 years ago. Before carrying out yesterday’s attack, he posted on social media that he intended to “carry out an attack.”
The attack began when he opened fire at the policemen wounding them: they immediately killed him.
It should be noted that France is on high alert since this coming Sunday the first round of presidential elections is expected. There is a great fear that terrorist organizations will try to carry out attacks. In the beginning of the week the interior minister even announced that two young men who were planning a terrorist attack were targeted by authorities and killed.