Thursday's shootings followed the arrest this week of two men in Marseille on suspicion of plotting an attack around Sunday's hotly contested first-round presidential vote, fueling France's worst fear: a terrorist attack as crowds gather at polling stations across the nation.
However, previous attacks that have taken place shortly before elections, including the November 2015 attacks in Paris ahead of regional polls, and a shooting in a Jewish school before the 2012 presidentials, did not appear to boost the scores of those espousing tougher national security.
France was still shaken two days after 39-year-old gunman Karim Cheurfi shot dead a police officer and wounded two others before being killed, in an attack that sent tourists on the Champs Elysees rushing for cover.
"Nothing must hamper this democratic moment, essential for our country", Cazeneuve said after a high-level meeting Friday that reviewed the government's security plans.
"She's the strongest on borders and she's the strongest on what's been going on in France", Trump said in the Oval Office interview, noting that he was not specifically endorsing the far-right candidate. France's interior ministry said the attacker was killed in the incident in the early evening on the world-famous boulevard.
The warning was circulated more widely among French security services in the hour following the Champs Elysees attack.
(AP Photo/Emilio Morenatti). A French riot police officer carries flowers given to him by a protestor who demonstrated with others in what was described as a march of support for all French security forces, in Paris, Saturday, April 22, 2017. A female foreign tourist also was wounded, said Paris prosecutor Francois Molins. That, along with an unusually quick claim of responsibility by the Islamic State group were the only signs that he had entered the world of Islamic extremists, Molins said.
In a statement from its Amaq news agency, IS gave a pseudonym for the shooter, Abu Yusuf al-Beljiki, indicating he was Belgian or had lived in Belgium. Previously, French police identified the suspect but did not immediately release his name, saying only that he is a 39-year-old French national from an eastern suburb of Paris.
Pres. Trump to order review of national monuments
Believed to be specifically targeted are the Grand Staircase Escalante and Bears Ears monuments . Many of these groups aren't mincing words either over the president's expected order tomorrow.
Police tape surrounded the quiet, middle-class neighborhood and anxious neighbors expressed surprise at the searches.
Mr Molins said: "The investigations will now focus on determining. the potential help that he may have benefited from".
Meanwhile, the two police officers injured in the attack are said to be out of danger.
A serial offender, he spent almost 14 years in prison for a range of crimes including attacks on the police.
Leading presidential candidates have urged greater counterterrorism measures in a campaign already under a state of emergency. It recalled two recent attacks on soldiers providing security at prominent locations around Paris: one at the Louvre museum in February and one at Orly airport last month. He says he's not anxious about emboldening terrorists by saying an attack can have an impact on a democratic election.
He vowed that, if elected, he would within weeks of taking power create a task force to coordinate French intelligence efforts against the Islamic State group.
Far-right candidate Marine Le Pen and centrist Emmanuel Macron, who are facing off in the May 7 presidential runoff, were present at the ceremony at the Paris police headquarters. She canceled a minor campaign stop, but scheduled another. "I'd like to have someone who will reflect the values of France with humanism and openness", said Sophie Maurice.
The two top finishers in Sunday's election will advance to a runoff on May 7.
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