French police shoot man suspected of planning synagogue attack

French police say a man shot and killed outside a synagogue in the Normandy city of Rouen threatened officers with a knife and a metal bar.

Police were alerted that smoke was rising from the synagogue and came face to face with the man when they got there, national police said.

An officer opened fire and killed the man, police said.

Interior minister Gerald Darmanin posted on the social media site X, formerly Twitter, that the armed individual was “neutralised” on Friday morning and thanked officers for their “reactivity and their courage”.

“In Rouen, national police officers neutralised early this morning an armed individual clearly wanting to set fire to the city’s synagogue. I congratulate them for their reactivity and their courage,” he said.

The ministry confirmed that the suspect was shot and killed.

Tensions and anger have grown in France over the Israel-Hamas war.

Anti-Semitic acts have surged in the country, which has the largest Jewish and Muslim populations in western Europe.

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