A man who overpowered a soldier at Paris Orly Airport and tried to seize her gun was involved in another shooting at a traffic stop, French authorities said Saturday.
Security forces opened fire, killing him during the morning attack at the airport.
The attacker was known to police and intelligence services, and was involved in a shooting at a police traffic stop north of Paris that morning, Interior Minister Bruno Le Roux said at a news conference. He fled the scene.
A police officer injured in that incident is undergoing treatment, he said.
At the airport, the attacker tried to tackle the soldier and grab her weapon, French Defense Minister Jean-Yves Le Drian said. He was shot dead by two of the soldier’s colleagues.
This was the fourth attack against security forces deployed as part of France’s Operation Sentinel, he said. The national security operation was launched following the Paris terror attacks in January 2015.
Le Roux praised the swift response of security forces at the airport.
No one else was injured in the airport incident, interior ministry spokesman Pierre-Henry Brandet said. An investigation is underway.
The airport was evacuated as an elite operations unit and bomb squad officers rushed to the scene. Local authorities said the bomb squad had finished its search for explosives.
Air traffic at both Orly South and Orly West remains suspended, the president of Paris Airports Augustin de Romanet said, adding that he discouraged people from coming to the scene.
The police also urged the public to avoid the airport, follow instructions and not to cross the security perimeter.
With roads around the airport closed off, some travelers earlier tried to make their way to the airport on foot with their baggage.
Air traffic has been suspended at the airport, with some flights rerouted to Paris Charles De Gaulle Airport.
Paris Orly Airport is France’s second-busiest airport, with international and domestic air traffic.