Pa rt opened fire on a police bus in a part of the french capital. In the heart. He killed one of and wounded two others. It took place on the Champs Elysees, which leads from the Champs Elysees, which leads from the Arc De Triomphe to be manager. It happened 300 metres away from the Arc De Triomphe itself. The government got out of the car and fired an automatic weapon, before being shot dead by police. Media reports say he was known to the Intelligence Services, at a Police Search is under way at his home, near paris. The Islamic State group says it carried out the shooting, naming the attacker as a belgian, a view user. It comes days before the first round of the french president to elections. Abu youssef. You have to stay back, please. The area is dangerous because of shotguns. Please stay back. Tonight, frances worst fears realised, yet another Terror Attack and just two days before an all important president ial election here. 0ne Policeman killed, another seriously injured in a shooting on the emblematic and busy Champs Elysees. Translation i was walking on the pavement, there was a bus full of police, the man parked just in front of the bus, then got out a kalashnikov and then he shot six times. I thought it was fireworks. Then he went and hid behind a lorry. Translation we were moving towards a car and i heard two or three shots. I didnt realise they were shots to start with. Then there wasjust panic all around, everyone started running down the Champs Elyseesjust by instinct. I didnt stop to work out what was going on, i just ran, too. The attacker was then shot dead by police. Guns drawn, the police are shooing people of the street. This country which up untiljust now was obsessed by politics and the upcoming election has been thrown back into a sense of fear it was just about recovering from after the mass paris attacks over a year ago. Tonight, people in central paris were too scared to leave their homes. The tension is palpable. Gunshots. Shots are being fired. Is it gunshots . No. A sudden noise where we were was mistaken for gunfire and had police shouting us off the street. Metro stations in central paris have been shut down for now as armed police spread across the streets of the capital. Tonight, paris is fearful, and on high alert. Katya adler, bbc news, paris. Moments after the shooting, reporters at the scene were able to speak to reporters at the scene were able to speakto an reporters at the scene were able to speak to an eyewitness, who said that he saw the attack unfolds. He described how he saw the gunmen use what he thought was a kalashnikov. This is what he said. Translation so i came out and was walking on the pavement. And there was a Policeman Ban and a man came along in an old grey audi. He parked behind the van and get out with a kalashnikov. I had six gunshots. I thought they were fireworks. We looked down the road and there was no one. He was hidden behind the van, shooting at the police. I think he hit one. As soon as the police got out of the van, he fell. As soon as we saw that, we ran back inside. We hid and when up to the first floor, and we saw shoot him. Francois hollande has spoken about the attack. He confirmed that in addition to a Police Officer and attacker being killed, two other Police Officers were injured. Here is what he had to say. Translation we are convinced the investigations will show that this attack was terrorist in nature. The Anti Terrorist group has been deployed and it will leave the enquiry. It will establish the motivation of the attack and whether anyone else was involved. I am convening a defence meeting tomorrow morning at 8am. We have done everything to mobilise our police and military in a way appropriate to the circumstances. This has been the case for several months. 0ur vigilance will be of the highest order, in particular with regard to the forthcoming election. But everyone will understand that at this time my thoughts are with the family of the Police Officer who was killed, and also the loved ones of the wounded officers. A National Commemoration will be arranged for this Police Officer, who was the victim of a cowardly murder. We must all remain aware that our Security Forces carry out a particularly difficultjob, that they are exposed, as weve seen again this evening, and they can count on the total support of our nation. So, president Francois Hollande that. We take you live to that famous boulevard, where the Security Operation is still very much ongoing. As you can see, they are, the Security Services are Still Closing down, closing off that famous boulevard. We are getting a few more details from our paris correspondent about the man who carried out that attack on the Champs Elysees. According to reports from the french media, they are saying that he is a 39 year old from the eastern paris suburbs. It is important to stress that these are reports from french media. But the paris prosecutor and the french authorities are not giving his name out yet. They say that they do know her ears, but they are not giving his name out, yet, because they want to find out whether he had an accomplice. Know who is. But according to french media, a property has been searched by investigators, and they want to know who else, if anyone, might have known his plans, but according to french media, this man spent years in Prison Forfiring on Police Officers in the year 2000. Details are coming through. But again, none of this has been confirmed by the french authorities. Lets speak to oui correspondence french authorities. Lets speak to our correspondence in paris. Thomas fessy joins us live now from paris. Some details coming through, but the authorities are saying that they will not be confirming the identity of this person until they are sure as to whether he had any converses. Yes. I think that we will have a much clearer picture. By now, we know that the man has been identified. He was known from the Security Services and the Intelligence Services, and that he had actually posted his plan to carry out to attack Police Officers on the service messaging, telegram. That is as much as we know tonight. We also know that the Police Issued an Arrest Warrant for a second potential suspect. They are obviously searching for the home of the attacker, as well. Possibly potential converses. This was targeted at the police. The mantra of up toa targeted at the police. The mantra of up to a police van. 0nce targeted at the police. The mantra of up to a police van. Once again, French Police were the subject of a targeted attack. Man drove up to. Exactly. The man clearly had the police in mind. He could obviously have opened fire on crowds of tourists and passers by. But he targeted a van. In a way, carnage has been avoided, they are, because if he had turned his weapon on crowds of people, it could have been more of a bloodbath. But it seems that the target really was men in uniforms, the police, and the reaction of the Police Obviously limited the number of casualties and so far we know that one Police Officer died in the attack, and two others have been wounded. Once again, it is figures of authority, as you say, people in uniform. We have the attack on soldiers at the louvre, in the centre of paris. We also had the soldier being attacked at the 0rly airport. This will be, for a country in a State Of Emergency, a worrying development. Extremely. But in a way, not very surprising, any more, to french people, who have come to be used to living with that kind of threat. As you said, france has been in a State Of Emergency for nearly two years, now. The french have gotten to be used to living with soldiers in the streets, with armed Police PatrollingTrain Stations and the streets of their cities. Just a few days go, the Intelligence Services said that they had uncovered a plan to attack a president ial candidate ora to attack a president ial candidate or a rally down in the Southern City of marseille. So in a way, terrorism was thrown back into the president ial campaign, which is still under way. Some of the candidates have said they would suspend their campaign immediately. Some others have said that they would carry on with their final rallies tomorrow. There is no doubt that french voters will have this latest attack in mind when they will go to the polls on sunday. And there will be french voters who will probably think that it would be safer for them to stay home. So we have yet to see how much of an impact this will have on the turnout of that first round of election. Impact this will have on the turnout of that first round of electionm is could bring up the first round, thomas. How important has security beenin thomas. How important has security been in the whole debate leading up to the election on sunday . 0r been in the whole debate leading up to the election on sunday . Or is it more things like unemployment, the economy. More things like unemployment, the economy. What has been the focus of peoples attention in the debate . Interestingly enough, security and terrorism has not been the actual focus of this campaign. First of all, the campaign has been marred by alleged corruption scandals, and all kinds of scandals that were, that candidates had to respond to. But as you said, unemployment of the economy is very much what has been the focus of this campaign. But also did distrust of the political class. The course, you have hardline candidates, like Marine Le Pen, for example. She has been talking about security and closing borders and reinforcing the police services. But on the whole, terrorism has not been the focus of this campaign. Just days before, a few days before the vote, here it comes, and attack or a plan of attack that is foiled by Intelligence Services in marseilles. And now an actual attack in paris with one dead Police Officer, shot dead on the avenue des Champs Elysees. That is obviously a worrying developmentjust three days before the vote. Yes, and thomas, give us a bit more detail, in case some of our viewers have not been aware of what happened in marseilles, the foiled attack. 0ne of the president ial candidates was the subject of this . Just explain a little bit more. So it is unclear exactly what the purpose of the attack was. Intelligence services believe that either a president ial candidate was a target, or a rally could have been the target of the attack. But explosives and guns were found at the home of the suspects, who arrested a few days ago by Intelligence Services. These were people who had been watched by the Intelligence Services for some time. And it is. Measures have been put in place during the State Of Emergency, that allowed the police to search their home and arrest them before an attack could be carried out. And thomas. This Security Detail has unsurprisingly been increased . The detail has unsurprisingly been increased . The oral security situation, the Security Services, have they upped their game . They must have, given the number of attacks that france has had to endure. Exactly. Over the last two yea rs, endure. Exactly. Over the last two years, a endure. Exactly. Over the last two yea rs, a state endure. Exactly. Over the last two years, a State Of Emergency has been declared. And you have thousands of soldiers deployed out in the streets of every city in the country. The french are now used to seeing soldiers with guns out in the streets, patrolling the neighbourhoods, armed police, as well, all around the city. When you look at the avenue des Champs Elysees, just before the attack, you had several buses full of Police Officers deployed there, encase anything happens. So very much the threat is being taken very seriously here. It has been taken seriously here. It has been taken seriously in the last two years. There is no doubt that the french will have that in mind when they go to vote on sunday. President Francois Hollande has wanted to reassure french nationals tonight. He said that they should feel protected and that the Security Forces were there to protect citizens and that they were doing their job, citizens and that they were doing theirjob, and citizens and that they were doing their job, and that citizens and that they were doing theirjob, and that the vote should happen as planned. The Security Effort today, they were so swift on the scene, credit to them for how quickly they reacted. Exactly. I think it shows that the police know the kind of threat they are facing. The Swift Reaction, we are facing. The Swift Reaction, we are talking about minutes during which the police reacted, they were swiftly at the scene and the attacker. Nobody knows if the attacker. Nobody knows if the attacker would have turned his weapon on the crowds of tourists and passers by after he shot dead the Police Officer. So obviously the Swift Reaction of the police limited the number of casualties tonight. Turning back to the election. 0bviously turning back to the election. Obviously the first round takes place on sunday. What happens if no candidate wins a majority . Give us a timeline of what happens next Going Forward in this election. The first two candidates who come out of this first round will be going head to head ina first round will be going head to head in a run off in two weeks time on the seventh of may and then they will have to win a 50 majority to be able to become president. At the moment you still have four candidates who are extremely close in the polls, Marine Le Pen from the national front, but also the independent centrist Emmanuelle Macron and Francois Fillon from the republicans, and melenchon, a hard left candidate. They are also close to each other that it makes the election so unpredictable. It is the First Time Ever an election is so unpredictable that it is too close to call. For the time being, thank you for talking asked through all of todays events. For all of our viewers justjoining us, a recap of what has taken place today. At around 9pm local time in paris, the centre of paris, the champs elysee, that famous boulevard, and attack took place when a gunman pulled up alongside a police van and opened fire, killing a Police Officer and wounding two others and also wounding a passerby. This incident took place on the champs elysee, that incredibly well known Boulevard Leading from the Arc De Triomphe to the plaster lack on court. Place de la concorde. It is understood to have happened to the western end of the boulevard, 300 metres away from the Arc De Triomphe itself. The gunman getting out of the car and firing an automatic weapon. Weve heard eyewitnesses said they believe they saw a kalashnikov before they were shot dead by police. Media reports are saying the Intelligence Services know the identity of the gunman. He was known to Intelligence Services but obviously we will not have that name confirmed until the Intelligence Services are fully happy with whether he had accomplices, whether they can confirm this person had accomplices or not. Police searches are under way at his home and we were discussing this just now, this incident happens days before the first round of the french president ial election. President hollande saying he is convinced this was terrorism related. Very soon after the attack took place, much quicker than expected, the Islamic State group taking responsibility. That is something they tend to do so a lot later in an event like this. This obviously is a developing situation. An investigation taking place and that Security Operation very much under way still on the champs elysee. Earlier my colleague Martine Croxall spoke to sir Peter