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A French offical connected to the investigation has confirmed the attacker as Ziyed Ben Belgacem - a French-born national. Reports suggested he was a serial offender with 44 offences on his criminal record - his most recent being for armed robbery. The police source initially said the man was a radicalised Muslim who was known to the authorities. However, later the French Interior Ministry confirmed the man was on a crime watchlist, not a terror watchlist. According to the Paris prosecutor's office, the 39-year-old had previously been on the authorities' radar for suspected Islamic extremism. His house was among many searched in the days after the 2015 Paris suicide attacks.

TWITTER First images emerge of Paris shooter Ziyed Ben Belgacem

Judicial sources say they have arrested Belgacem's father and brother. The suspect allegedly send his family a text after the first shooting, saying: "I did a bullsh*t, I shot at the police". The family are French citizens of Tunisian descent, and believed to be living on a council-run estate in Garges-lès-Gonesse.

He was shot by French police after he snatched a weapon from a soldier at the airport. A female police officer was also injured during a road check where three officers were shot at, a police source told news agency Reuters that the two incidents are related. He is believed to have stolen two cars to make his getaway - the first was stolen near the road check. This vehicle was found abandoned at Vitry, containing a bloodied t-shirt. The second was later found abandoned at Orly airport. The female officer was said to have been shot in the head but was described by officials as not being seriously hurt. The French Interior Ministry have confirmed a man was shot dead at the airport. The man fled into McDonalds at the airport before being shot.

Getty A man was shot dead at Orly Airport. Paris this morning

One passenger wrote on Twitter that shots had been fired in the south terminal. Another wrote: "Hostage-taking at Orly South, ongoing police operation, the airport evacuated." French police confirmed that a security operation was in progress at the airport, south of the capital.

Live images: Orly Airport Shooting Sat, March 18, 2017 Orly Airport shooting. Terror attack in Paris Play slideshow REUTERS 1 of 9 A medical gurney is wheeled into Orly airport after shooting incident near Paris

Interior Minstry spokesman Pierre-Henry Brandet said that no one else was injured in the incident and that no explosives were found on the man's body. Mr Brandet said: “The man succeeded in seizing the weapon of a soldier. He was quickly neutralised by the security forces.” Officals say that the man actually managed to obtain the gun from a group of soldiers who were patrolling the airport before running off with it. It was then that he was killed.

EXPRESS

Witness Franck Lecam said: "We had queued up to check in for the Tel Aviv flight when we heard three or four shots nearby." "The whole airport has been evacuated. We are all outside the airport, about 200m from the entrance. "There are policemen, emergency workers and soldiers everywhere in all directions. A security official told us that it happened near gates 37-38 where Turkish Airlines flights were scheduled." The head of the Paris airports company confirmed searches of Orly Airport had been completed, and passengers who had been stuck onboard 13 flights that arrived just before the attack have now been allowed to disembark. At least 15 other flights were diverted to Paris' other main airport, Charles de Gaulle.

French president Francois Hollande has praised the courage and efficiency of troops and police following the incidents. In a written statement, the President reaffirmed the state's "determination to act without respite to fight terrorism, defend our compatriots' security and ensure the protection of the territory." He says the Sentinelle operation —about 7,500 troops patrolling on the country's streets and sensitive sites— has proved useful in addition to police forces. French presidential hopeful Emmanuel Macron has also paid tribute to the French troops who have been deployed to secure the streets of France in the wake of a string of deadly Islamic extremist attacks, saying the soldiers "have demonstrated one more time calm, control and professionalism."

AFP Security forces secure Orly Airport after a man was shot dead

[#Orly]Opération de police en cours. Ne franchissez pas le périmètre de sécurité, suivez les consignes. — Police Nationale (@PoliceNationale) March 18, 2017

Twitter Security personnel at Orly Airport