Armed raiders wielding handguns raid Paris Apple store and flee with £1MILLION worth of i-gadgets

One staff member hurt in robbery at flagship store on New Year's Eve

Hooded gunmen grabbed piles of gadgets before fleeing police in a van

Black market in stolen Apple goods very strong in France



Four armed robbers are today being hunted by Paris police after £1million of goods was taken in the first ever organised raid on an Apple Store in France.



One worker was injured in the News Year's Eve attack on the shop in the Opera district of the French capital.



It took place at around 9pm on Monday, three hours after the close of business on the flagship store, which had reported outstanding business over Christmas and New Year.



Raid: The flagship Apple store in Paris (pictured today) was attacked by gunmen on New Year's Eve who took £1million of goods

Police believe it was coordinated to take place as police dealt with large crowds building up for the New Year Eve’s celebrations on the Champs Elysee and by the Eiffel Tower.



The robbers, who were masked and carrying handguns, are believed to have attacked a security guard before helping themselves to smartphones and tablets.

They then loaded hundreds of them into a van parked nearby, before making off before police arrived.



A spokesman for the judicial police in Paris said ‘everything possible' was being done to find the raiders.



He said that four suspects were being looked for, and that CCTV images were beings studied.

Smash and grab: The robbers injured a member of staff before grabbing iPads and iPhones at around 9pm last night

The spokesman said that one man had been 'lightly injured' in the raid. He was helping police with their enquiries.



Christophe Crepin, an Unsa police union official, told Le Parisien newspaper that ‘the four hooded and heavily armed criminals made their move very quickly. Most of the police forces were being mobilised to monitor the Champs Elysees, so the robbers have clearly benefitted from this opportunity to strike.’



Mr Crepin said the robbers mainly took ‘a lot of goods’ and very little money. Early estimates were that the haul was worth well over 1 million euros, or close to 1 million pounds.



Queues are regularly seen outside Apple stores like the one in Opera as shoppers snap up the latest innovation from the hugely successful American company.



Thefts: Curious Parisians look through the windows of the the Apple shop following the violent raid last night

Casual thefts of Apple technology are commonplace in France, but this is by far the biggest and best organised raid on a store in Paris, as well as being the first time that guns have been used in such a raid.



In the USA, armed robbers regularly strike Apple stores, using weapons to steal thousands of dollars worth of goods.

