PARIS (Reuters) – A man suspected of having shot dead a French policeman in the city of Avignon last week has been arrested, along with another individual, said French Interior Minister Gerald Darmanin on Twitter.
“This crime will not go unpunished,” said Darmanin, as he congratulated the police for having the made the arrests.
The police officer had been shot dead during an anti-narcotics operation.
The recent murders of police officers have shocked France, which faces a presidential election next year at which issues such as fears over terrorist attacks, immigration and violent crime will dominate the agenda.
The shooting of the police officer in Avignon came less than a month after an attacker had fatally stabbed a police employee in Rambouillet, near Paris, which President Emmanuel Macron had described as a terrorist attack.
The Rambouillet attacker was shot dead by police.
(Reporting by Tangi Salaun and Bertrand Boucey; Editing by Sudip Kar-Gupta)
