- Paris Orly Airport Shut, Planes Diverted After Police Shoots Man
Paris’s Orly airport was closed Saturday and flights were diverted to the larger Charles de Gaulle hub after a man who seized a soldier’s weapon was shot and killed, the airport authority said.
All flights to Orly were re-routed after 9 a.m. in Paris, Aeroport de Paris and the aviation authority DGAC said in text messages. Some planes with passengers are currently grounded on the tarmac, DGAC said.
The South wing of the airport was evacuated. Police have now finished checks in the terminal, and no explosive devices were found.
The assailant snatched the weapon from a patrolling officer on duty in Orly’s South terminal and sought to hide with it in one of the shops, before he was shot by a special police unit, BFM Television reported, citing the police.
The shooting at Orly has been linked to another incident earlier on Saturday, when an armed man escaped police checking in Stains, near Paris, after injuring one of the officers, French Interior Minister Bruno Le Roux said.
The national police has called on passengers who had a planned trip to avoid coming to the airport where security operations are ongoing. Both the interior and defense ministers of France have reached Orly to discuss operations with security forces. The Paris anti-terrorism prosecutor has opened an investigation into the Orly shooting, RTL Radio reported.