The attacker, a 39-year-old man identified as Ziyed Ben Belgacem,[1] was shot dead after attempting to seize a weapon from a soldier patrolling the airport under Opération Sentinelle.
[2] He abandoned his vehicle in Vitry-sur-Seine shortly afterwards, where he threatened the patrons of a bar and, saying "in the name of Allah,"[6] stole another car at gunpoint from a mother driving her daughter.
[5] At about 08:30, he went to the departures level of the south terminal of Orly Airport and assaulted a member of a three-person patrol of air force soldiers.
[5] According to a description by François Molins of the Prosecutor's Office in Paris, "With a pistol in his right hand and a bag over his shoulder, he grabbed (the soldier) with his left arm, made her move backward by three to four meters (yards), positioning her as a shield, and pointed his revolver at her forehead," shouting "Put down your weapons!
[15] Due to his connection with radicalised Islamists, his home was searched in November 2015 following the Paris attacks a few years earlier.
All flights to and from Orly were suspended and some were diverted to the larger Charles de Gaulle Airport east of Paris.