Police shot dead an Afghan asylum seeker in the no-go Paris suburb of Seine-Saint-Denis after he attacked mounted police while armed with a knife.
It began when one of the equestrian officers approached 25-year-old Miakhil Zar Mohammad, who was walking around a park in the commune of La Courneuve on Wednesday afternoon by himself with a 12-inch knife.
A source close to the investigation told Le Parisien that the man had tried to attack the horse of one of the police officers.
The mounted police alerted another branch of the local police which patrols on bicycles about the migrant. The officers told Mr Mohammad, who did not speak French, to leave the park as it was closed due to the coronavirus lockdown. But he refused to leave and became aggressive.
Officers tried to force his removal with tear gas. Initially, the young migrant walked away, but then returned and charged with his weapon.
The other team of officers threw their bicycles to fend off the attack, but the Afghan continued to advance until three peacekeepers drew their weapons and shot him a total of five times in the head, shoulder, and abdomen. Mohammad died at the scene.
One officer was injured in the shoulder and was sent to a local hospital for treatment. An investigation has been launched under the jurisdiction of the judicial police of Seine-Saint-Denis.
According to Le Parisien, the 25-year-old had refugee status in France, but that was due to expire on the 26th of April. He had first attempted to claim asylum in Austria in 2018 but was rejected.
Seine-Saint-Denis, known for its large population of illegal migrants and migrant-background residents, has seen several high profile murders over the last year.
The shooting comes just days after a Sudanese migrant yelling “Allahu Akbar” stabbed two people to death and wounded several more outside a bakery in Romans-sur-Isère.