Paris airport gunman had drugs, alcohol in his system, autopsy finds

Police questioned and released relatives of a man shot dead at a Paris airport, as investigatorscontinue to search for clues and an autopsy and toxicology tests found drugs and alcohol inhis system.

Paris prosecutor Francois Molins said late on Saturday thatthe man, named as 39-year-old Ziyed Ben Belgacem, had shouted hewas there to "die for Allah" when he tried to seize the gun froma woman air force member on patrol at Orly airport on Saturday morning.

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After throwing down a bag containing a can of petrol andputting an air pistol to the head of the soldier, he was shotthree times by her colleagues.

More than 230 people have died in France in the past twoyears at the hands of attackers allied to the militant IslamicIslamistgroup the Islamic State in Iraq and Syria (ISIS). These include coordinated bombings andshootings in November 2015 in Paris when 130 people were killedand scores injured.

With the country in the throes of a highly charged electioncampaign before a two-round presidential election in April andMay, the attacks fuelled the political debate about security.

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Belgacem, who had been in and out of prison for theft anddrug offences according to judicial sources, was already on theauthorities' radar. They said he became a radicalized Muslimwhen he served a prison term several years ago fordrug-trafficking.

He had been reporting regularly to police under the terms ofa provisional release from custody for theft and he did not havethe right to leave the country.

Several hours before he was killed, Belgacem hadshot and wounded a police officer with his air pistol after aroutine traffic stop north of Paris before fleeing, officialssaid.

Later he entered a bar in Vitry-sur-Seine, onthe other side of Paris about 10 kilometres from Orly, and opened fire with his air gun without hittinganyone. He also stole a car before arriving at the airport.

Regret after police stopped car

Belgacem's father, who was initially detained by police butthen released, denied his son had been involved in terrorism.

"My son has never been a terrorist. He has never prayed: hedrinks. And, under the influence of alcohol and cannabis, thisis what happens," the father, whose name was not given, toldEurope 1.

He said he had received a phone call from his son in whichBelgacem referred to shooting the police officer, saying: "I askyour forgiveness. I screwed up with a policeman."

The Paris prosecutors' office said toxicology tests conducted as part of an autopsy found traces of cocaine and cannabis in Belgacem'sblood.

He also had 0.93 grams of alcohol per litre of blood when he died Saturday, the prosecutors' office said.The legal limit for alcohol while driving in France is 0.5 grams per litre.

A police search of his flat found cocaine, said Molins, theParis prosecutor.

A brother and cousin of Belgacem were also questioned by police and then released on Sunday, the judicial source said.

'Our government is overwhelmed,' says Le Pen

Belgacem was born in Paris, according to the prosecutor.French media said his family was of Tunisian origin.

Presidential candidates responded swiftly to the incident.

Conservative Franois Fillon said that France was in a"situation of virtual civil war" and spoke out against aproposal to lift a state of emergency in place since theNovember 2015 attacks.

Far-right candidate Marine Le Pen, running on ananti-immigration, anti-EU ticket, said the Orly attacker couldhave caused a "massacre."

"Our government is overwhelmed, stunned, paralyzed like arabbit in the headlights," she told an election rally.

Last words of Paris attacker: I am here to die for Allah

8 years ago

Duration 2:19

Man shot to death after trying to grab the weapon of a soldier guarding Paris's Orly Airport has been identified as Ziyed Ben Belgacem