A policeman was shot and a man took hostages at a supermarket in two separate incidents in the same area of southwest France on Friday, security sources told AFP.
The policeman was shot in the town of Carcassonne, while a gunman fired shots during a hostage-taking Friday morning at a supermarket in the town of Trebes 15 minutes’ drive away.
AFP reported that one or two people had been shot in the hostage taking.
According to AFP French prosecutors said the hostage taker claimed to be linked to the terror group Islamic State. According to numerous reports the gunman shouted “Allahu Akbar” as he opened fire. Specialist counter-terrorist prosecutors in Paris have opened an investigation meaning they are treating the incident as a terror attack.
It was not yet clear whether the two incidents were linked. There were unconfirmed reports that one person had died.
French Prime Minister Edouard Philippe described the ongoing incident as a “serious situation”.
Specialist French SWAT police were on the scene at the supermarket and had surrounded the building.
“One witness named Karim, 55, told France info radio: “I heard shots fired around 11:10am. At that moment there were only a few gendarmes (military police) around but now there are between 200 to 300.
“The whole area is in lockdown and we are going to be moved away by the gendarmes.”
Another witness who worked at a nearby garage said: “There are gendarmes in front of the supermarket. We are locked in the garage with around 50 people. We are waiting.”
Map: Mappy