Man shot dead after attacking soldier at Paris airport was drunk, on drugs

The man shot dead at Paris's Orly airport after attacking a soldier was under the influence of drugs and alcohol at the time, a judicial source has revealed.

Investigators are still trying to understand what motivated Saturday's assault by 39-year-old Ziyed Ben Belgacem, which led to a major security scare and the temporary closure of the capital's second-busiest airport.

"Toxicology tests carried out on Sunday showed an alcohol level of 0.93 grams per litre in his blood, and the presence of cannabis and cocaine," a judicial source said.

Belgacem's father had insisted earlier his son was "not a terrorist" and that his actions were caused by drink and drugs.

"My son was not a terrorist," he told Europe 1 radio.

"He never prayed, and he drank."

Belgacem, who was born in France to Tunisian parents, grabbed a soldier on patrol at Orly's southern terminal on Saturday morning.

He put a gun to her head and seized her rifle, saying he wanted to "die for Allah". He was later shot dead by two of the soldier’s colleagues.

The incident triggered a major security alert that caused travel chaos on Saturday.

Flights were halted at Orly for several hours at Paris' second-largest airport, but normal service resumed mid-afternoon.

Prosecutors said they had opened an anti-terror investigation.

The attacker’s cousin, father and brother reportedly approached police after the attack on and were held for questioning, but have since been released.

Interior Minister Bruno Le Roux said Belgacem was "known to the police and intelligence services".

He was linked to another attack on police just north of Paris earlier the same day, in which an officer was slightly wounded.

The attacker had been investigated in 2015 over suspicions he had radicalised while serving jail time, but his name did not feature on the list of those thought to pose a high risk.

Paris prosecutor Francois Molins said Belgacem appeared to have become caught up in a "sort of headlong flight that became more and more destructive".

According to an eyewitness, Belgacem had at one point grabbed the female soldier by the neck.

"The man took a soldier hostage, he was holding her by the neck and he was threatening two other soldiers with the woman's rifle," the traveller said.

The incident took place at about 8.30am local time in the south terminal. About 3000 people were evacuated from the building.

Franck Lecam, a traveller bound for Tel Aviv, said he heard "three or four shots" as he was queueing to check in.