Paris police shoot two dead as car ‘rushes’ them amid Macron re-election protests – World News

The bloodbath happened on the ancient Pont Neuf, in the centre of the city, soon after Emmanuel Macron’s re-election as President on Sunday night

Police in Paris shot dead two people and severely wounded a third, after a car failed to stop on the oldest bridge in the French capital.

The bloodbath happened on the ancient Pont Neuf, in the centre of the city, soon after Emmanuel Macron’s re-election as President on Sunday night.

“A car came rushing towards police soon after midnight, and refused to stop,” said an investigating source.

“One of the police officers opened fire, killing two people and wounding a third.”

In the early hours of Monday morning, an examining magistrate attended the scene, which was closed to traffic.

The IGNP investigations unit – one that deals with potential crimes carried out by the police – also attended.

Police at the scene confirmed that the wounded person was a woman who had been travelling in the back of the car, and bullets hit her in the arm.

She was rushed to the Pitié-Saplêtrière hospital “for urgent treatment,” said the investigating source.

Witness El Sammak told AFP that he was on the terrace at the Hôtel du Cheval Blanc overlooking the Seine when he heard gunfire.

He said: “I heard four bullets. When I looked, I saw a man running ten to fifteen meters. Then he collapsed. Apparently he was not the driver, he was a passenger”.

Maxime Guedon, a 24-year-old student, said: “We went outside for a little walk. Then we heard gunshots. We thought it was firecrackers. In fact it turns out that it was more serious than that.”

All of the shots were thought to have been fired by a police-issue Heckler & Koch G36 assault rifle.

There was no return of fire from those inside the car, none of whom was thought to be armed.

“It seems that they were simply in a car that was being driven erratically,” said the source.

There were no early clues pointing to a link with the presidential election, or any terrorist acts.

A witness told Le Figaro: “A car was parked in the wrong direction along the Vert-Galant square on the Pont Neuf. The police approached to control the individuals present in the vehicle by pointing automatic weapons at him.

“The driver rushed off towards the police at full speed. The police fired immediately.”

Police are yet to say whether or not the incident was linked to political unrest in the Capital following Macron’s election.

Footage from the site of the shooting posted to social media shows scenes of chaos as civilians run through the streets and officers attempt to block people from police cordons.

In one video, police cars and ambulances with flashing lights are parked behind cordons, as officers stand guard and sirens wail.

In another shot, the Eiffel tower can be seen in the background while police officers cluster in a group in the foreground.

News of the shooting follows reports of violence on the streets of Paris as people around the country protested after President Macron’s re-election.

Riot police charged and sprayed teargas on demonstrators in central Paris protesting after President Emmanuel Macron was re-elected on Sunday, footage from social media showed.

Police sought to break up a crowd of mostly young people who had gathered in the central neighbourhood of Chatelet to protest, according to images on Twitter.

One clip showed protesters chanting in front of the iconic Monument to the Republic in Paris, as some climbed up to daub political slogans on the statue.

Meanwhile, in Paris’s Place de la République square, officers clad in full riot gear – wielding shields and truncheons – were seen retreating after initially running down crowds.

Across the country in Toulouse, residents gathered in the street communal bins were set ablaze in protest against the election result.

Protesters also came out in force in Lyon, marching through red smoke after letting off flares.

Macron defeated far-right leader Marine Le Pen in a runoff vote earlier on Sunday by winning a second five-year term.

The win prevented what would otherwise have been a major political upset.

Although Macron won by a comfortable margin, the abstention rate was expected to settle at the highest since 1969, with a substantial chunk of voters unwilling to opt for either Macron or Le Pen.

Between the first round of voting and Sunday’s runoff, students protested outside the Sorbonne in Paris and other universities, expressing their disillusionment with the choice on offer.

Macron celebrated with a rally by the Eiffel Tower following the release of the exit polls this evening.

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