Gunman Kills Officer Before Being Shot Dead

A gunman has killed a police officer and seriously wounded two others before being shot dead in an attack on the Champs Elysees shopping district in the French capital, according to Paris police and the interior ministry, Aljazeera News Agency reported.

The Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant (ISIL) group claimed responsibility for the attack on Thursday evening, which took place three days before France's first round of presidential election. It was not possible for Al Jazeera to independently confirm the claim. 

Pierre-Henry Brandet, interior ministry spokesman, said the attack happened near the Franklin Roosevelt subway station, at the centre of the avenue popular with tourists.

"An automatic weapon was used against police, a weapon of war," Brandet told reporters, adding that the "terrorist threat" in the country remained high.

"A vehicle stopped near a [parked] traffic police vehicle. A man got out straight away and opened fire on the police, fatally injuring one police officer," Brandet said.

"The man then tried to run away along the pavement and aimed at the police. He injured two of them, apparently seriously, and one policeman shot back and killed the attacker."

The Paris prosecutor said the shooter had been identified.