Woman wearing hijab shot by police in Paris metro, condition critical
Reuters Reporting by Tassilo Hummel, Dominique Vidalon and Michel Rose;
editing by John Stonestreet
PARIS, Oct 31 (Reuters) - Paris police shot and critically wounded a woman
wearing a hijab in a metro station on Tuesday morning, after commuters
reported her shouting Jihadist slogans and behaving in a threatening manner,
the government said.
France is on its highest state of alert after the Oct. 13 murder of a
schoolteacher in a suspected Islamist attack, which officials have linked to
what they called a "Jihadist atmosphere" linked to the Israel-Gaza war.
The fully-veiled woman was shot at the Bibliotheque Nationale de France
station. Commuters had earlier reported her "uttering aggressive, Jihadist
comments," government spokesman Olivier Veran said.
When police arrived, "they pulled the woman aside and first asked her to calm
down but also to show her hands to show they presented no particular danger,"
he added.
"What happened then was that law enforcement officers had no option but to
open fire on this woman given the danger of the situation."
The fire service, which provided emergency care for the woman, said she was
shot in the abdomen. She was transferred to a nearby hospital.
Veran said the woman had in the past threatened urban patrols of the counter-
terrorism Sentinelle operation.
The metro station, on the RER C line, was evacuated after the incident, police
said.
Two investigations were opened, one against the woman and a second into the
use of weapons by police, the government spokesman said.
https://www.reuters.com/world/europe/hijab-wearing-woman-shot-by-police-paris-
metro-condition-critical-2023-10-31/