Paris police-killing suspect identified, had criminal history

The attacker was killed in a shoot out with police.

ByABC News
April 21, 2017, 12:58 PM

— -- The suspect who shot one police officer dead and injured two others in Paris Thursday night has been identified as Karim Cheurfi.

Previously, French police identified the suspect but did not immediately release his name, saying only that he is a 39-year-old French national from an eastern suburb of Paris.

Today, Paris Prosecutor Francois Molins confirmed that Cheurfi was the attacker. He was identified by ID cards found on his person and corroborated by fingerprints.

A piece of paper that was found in his pocket praised ISIS and other papers found between seats in his vehicle showed addresses of various police departments. In the trunk of his car, investigators found a black bag containing a pump-action shotgun, knives, scissors and a Koran, according to Molins.

Cheurfi was killed in a shootout with police after he got out of his car on the Champs Elysees and opened fire at a police vehicle.

Cheurfi was known to authorities and had a long and violent criminal history going back well over a decade, including attempts to attack police, but during that time authorities never found evidence that he had been radicalized, Molins said today.

He had four convictions, two for violence committed against a guard and a fellow inmate while in prison. He was most recently convicted in 2014 for home burglary, refusing to stop a car and concealing stolen goods, Molins said.

Cheurfi traveled to Algeria earlier this year -- allegedly to get married -- even though he was on parole. When he returned, he was reprimanded for breaking the terms of his parole.

PHOTO: People look at a bullet hole in a window near to the Marks and Spencer on the Champs Elysees in Paris following the shooting of a police officer on April 21, 2017.
People look at a bullet hole in a window near to the Marks and Spencer on the Champs Elysees in Paris following the shooting of a police officer on April 21, 2017.

Three people associated with Cheurfi have been detained for questioning, though his connection to those individuals was not publicly released.

As with all other similar attacks in France, investigators are looking into the possibility of accomplices. So far none have been identified and there does not appear to be a connection between this attack and any other suspects.

Shortly after the attack, ISIS claimed responsibility and praised the attacker, though they used a different name to identify the man that they believed was responsible.

ABC News' Kirit Radia contributed to this report.

Editor’s note: An earlier version of this story misspelled the suspect’s last name. It has since been updated.

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