Karim Cheurfi is a terrorist who shot police officers in three separate attacks in France. Motivated by Islamic extremism, Cheurfi wounded four officers and killed one. He was himself shot dead during his final attack, on April 20, 2017.
2001 attacks
In 2001 Cheurfi shot at police officers during a car chase, severely injuring one.[1] Days later he grabbed a second officer's gun while he was in custody and shot and wounded that officer.[1] Following a 2003 trial he was sentenced to 20 years but was subsequently released.[1]
This attack was linked at the time to organised crime rather than terror.[2]
Background
Cheurfi did not appear to become radicalised during his time in prison.[2] Lawyer Jean-Laurent Panier, who represented Cheurfi at a theft trial, said shortly after the 2017 attack that Cheurfi was "psychologically fragile" and a naive and unsuccessful criminal, adding "I never got a sense that this was someone who would be radicalised."[2]
Cheurfi lived an isolated existence with few or no friends,[2] and stayed with his parents in Chelles, Paris.[1]
Radicalisation
French authorities first received word of radical intent by the suspect in December 2016.[2] The tipoff suggested he was attemtping to acquire weapons and contact Islamic State terrorists in Iraq and/or Syria with a view to murder French police officers.[2] Although not then added to France's "S List" of terror suspects, he was added to a radicalisation alert list the following month.[2] In January he was also questioned after buying two hunting knives, a Scream mask, and a GoPro camera.[1] He was released after claiming the knives were for fishing and the other items were for a festival.[1]
In February 2017 police interrogated him over alleged threats made via the encrypted app Telegram, but he was released owing to insufficient evidence.[2] The following month French intelligence began to look more closely at him owing to ongoing attempts to contact foreign terrorists, but while he was seen as dangerous he was not considered an immediate threat.[2]
2017 attack
On April 20, 2017 Cheurfi drove a car behind a marked police van which was parked outside a Marks & Spencers on the Champs-Elysees.[1] He opened fire with an AK-47, killing one officer; two others were injured and a German lady's foot was also injured.[1] Police returned fire and killed the 39-year-old attacker.[1]
Investigation
Police immediately sealed off Cheurfi's family home and detained three of his relatives for questioning, but pointed out this was standard procedure.[1] Islamic State claimed the attack, calling Cheurfi Abu Yousif al-Belgiki (The Belgian) despite Cheurfi being a French national.[2] Within days of the attack a second suspect voluntarily attended a police station and was eliminated from the probe,[1] while police confirmed Cheurfi's motivation with the discovery of a handwritten pro-Islamic State note in his car.[2]
References
- ↑ 1.00 1.01 1.02 1.03 1.04 1.05 1.06 1.07 1.08 1.09 1.10 Paris attack: Champs-Elysees suspect was jailed for shooting police and subject of terror investigation The Independent, April 2017
- ↑ 2.00 2.01 2.02 2.03 2.04 2.05 2.06 2.07 2.08 2.09 2.10 Paris attack: who is Karim Cheurfi, the gunman who lived with his mother and was 'let go' by French authorities in February?, The Telegraph, April 2017