Woman shouting 'You're all going to die' shot by police in Paris metro

French police stand guard in front of the Chateau de Versailles (Versailles Palace) after it was evacuated for security reasons, in Versailles, near Paris, France, October 17, 2023. REUTERS/C

Paris police shot and critically wounded a woman wearing a hijab who was behaving in a threatening manner and shouted "Allahu Akbar" and "You're all going to die" in a metro station on Tuesday morning, Paris police chief Laurent Nunez said.

France is on its highest state of alert after the Oct 13 murder of a schoolteacher in a suspected Islamist attack, which officials have linked to what they called a "Jihadist atmosphere" linked to the Israel-Gaza war.

The fully-veiled woman was shot at the Bibliotheque Nationale de France station. Commuters had reported her "uttering aggressive, Jihadist comments," government spokesman Olivier Veran said earlier.

When police arrived, "they pulled the woman aside and first asked her to calm down but also to show her hands to show they presented no particular danger," he added.

"What happened then was that law enforcement officers had no option but to open fire on this woman given the danger of the situation."

The fire service, which provided emergency care for the woman, said she was shot in the abdomen. She was transferred to a nearby hospital.

Police chief Nunez said the woman's identity was yet to be confirmed but that she could be the same person who in 2021 threatened urban patrols of the counter-terrorism Sentinelle operation and had been put in a psychiatric ward over mental health issues.

The metro station, on the RER C line, was evacuated after the incident, police said.

Two investigations were opened, one against the woman and a second into the use of weapons by police, the government spokesman said.