The Latest: Initial probes identify man in Paris shooting

The Latest: Initial probes identify man in Paris shooting


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PARIS (AP) — The latest on a shooting at a Paris police station. All times local:

10 p.m.

A French security official says initial probes have identified the man who was killed after he showed up at a police station wearing fake explosives as a 20-year-old Moroccan previously involved in a minor robbery in the southern Var region.

The official said police are "working on the hypothesis" that the man is Ali Sallah, of Casablanca, saying the fingerprints of the dead attacker match those taken of the man caught for robbery in 2013.

The official said doubts persist because the body of the attacker appeared older than 20. He said Sallah described himself to police in 2013 as homeless and in France illegally. Investigators are trying to determine when the attacker arrived in the Paris region and whether someone provided a place to stay.

The official asked not to be publicly identified because he was not authorized to discuss the case.

— AP writer Philippe Sotto

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4 p.m.

The Paris prosecutor's office says it is opening a terrorism investigation after a man carrying a butcher's knife and wearing fake explosives showed up at a police station in northern Paris and was killed by police.

The statement Thursday from the Paris prosecutor said the man's body was found with a cell phone and a piece of paper with an emblem of the Islamic State group and a claim of responsibility written in Arabic. The statement did not provide more details about the claim.

The statement said the man cried out 'Allahu akbar" when he threatened police at 11:30 a.m., a year almost to the minute after two Islamic extremists burst in the offices of the Charlie Hebdo newspaper, gunning down 12 people, including two police officers.

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2:50 p.m.

Public transport is resuming in the northern Paris neighborhood around a police station targeted by a knife-wielding attacker, and the area appears to be beginning to return to normal.

Two metro lines and some bus services had been disrupted in the area after the lunchtime attack Thursday.

A helicopter patrolled overhead and police are still blocking off the station where the attack occurred. The assailant, wearing a fake explosives belt, was shot dead by police.

Neighborhood resident Nora Borrias was unable to get home because of the barricades. Shaken by the incident, she said "it's like the Charlie Hebdo affair isn't over," referring to the attack on the satirical newspaper exactly a year ago Thursday.

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2:45 p.m.

The French Interior Ministry says investigators believe that no other people were involved in an attack at a police station in which the assailant was killed by police.

Ministry spokesman Pierre-Henry Brandet told The Associated Press that at this stage of the investigation, police believe only one person was involved and are not looking for other suspects.

Police shot and killed the attacker, wearing what turned out to be a fake explosives belt, after he threatened them with a knife.

The neighborhood remains cordoned off by police, with two schools in lockdown and stores shuttered.

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2 p.m.

Police have cleared hundreds of people from the neighborhood of an attack on a Paris police station amid fears that other assailants could be at large.

A single unidentified attacker was killed by police after threatening them with a knife.

Tensions were high in the Goutte d'Or neighborhood in Paris' 18th arrondissement, a multi-ethnic district not far from the Gare du Nord train station.

Police expanded the security cordon about an hour after the attack, swiftly and roughly clearing out hundreds who had gathered at a subway station and along nearby streets.

Shops were ordered shuttered along neighboring streets.

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1:35 p.m.

Two French officials say a man shot dead outside a Paris police station was wearing a fake explosives vest.

The two officials, who spoke on condition of anonymity to discuss the ongoing investigation, said he had wires protruding from his body. They said he has not yet been identified.

One of the officials said the man threatened officers at the police station in northern Paris with a butcher's knife.

— By Lori Hinnant

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1:15 p.m.

An official says the man shot dead in front of a Paris police station rushed up to officers at the entrance, threatening them with a knife, and was immediately shot dead.

Yvan Assioma, of the police union Alliance, said tension was high on the anniversary of the attacks against the Charlie Hebdo newspaper, which left two police officers dead a year ago Thursday.

"The alert is constant," he told the broadcast network iTele. The Paris prosecutor's office said it was investigating.

Sirens are wailing and schools are in lockdown in the Paris neighborhood. At least a dozen riot police vans are blocking off the area in the Goutte d'Or district.

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1 p.m.

A Paris police official says officers are investigating an attack on a police station in the French capital as potential "terrorism."

The attacker, armed with a knife, was killed by police. The attack Thursday came as France marks one year since Islamic extremists attacked satirical newspaper Charlie Hebdo.

The police official said police are viewing the incident as "more likely terrorism" than a standard criminal act. The official spoke on condition of anonymity because of police policy.

Luc Poignant, a police union official, said the man may have been wearing an explosives vest, and cried out "Allahu Akbar" or 'God is great' in Arabic.

Police sealed off the area around the station.

—By Angela Charlton

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12:55 p.m.

French officials say a man armed with a knife was shot to death by officers at a police station in northern Paris.

Two officials say the man had wires extending from his clothing, and an explosives squad is on site.

The two officials, who spoke on condition of anonymity because the investigation was ongoing, said the shooting came shortly after noon on Thursday, the anniversary of the attacks against the Charlie Hebdo newspaper.

Minutes before, French President Francois Hollande had paid homage to police officers killed in the line of duty, including three police shot to death last January.

Police said the neighborhood in northern Paris was locked down after the shooting.

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