A radicalised Muslim known to intelligence agencies has been shot dead at Paris Orly airport after seizing an air force patrolwoman’s gun — just hours after he shot a police officer in the face in a northern suburb.

Authorities identified the man as Ziyed Ben Belgacem, a 39-year-old French national of north African origin born in Paris.

The Paris prosecutor, François Molins, said that during the confrontation at the airport, Belgacem shouted at the patrolmen: “I’m there to die by Allah. In any case there will be deaths.”

He was carrying a Koran, a container of petrol and matches in a backpack, which he threw to the ground before attacking the patrolwoman and holding a pellet gun to her temple.

Mr Molins said three of Belgacem’s relatives were in custody: his father, brother and a cousin. They went to a police station after Belgacem sent his brother a text message saying: “I’ve done something stupid. I’ve fired at police.”

An investigation has been opened into attempted murder as part of a terrorist plot, Mr Molins said.

The 39-year-old man hurled himself at three air force personnel patrolling a passenger terminal on Saturday morning under counter-terrorism measures introduced after the 2015 Paris attacks.

One of the patrolwomen clung to her gun as he wrestled her to the ground. Eventually he succeeded in prising it out of her grasp, and it was then one of the the patrolmen opened fire.