French high-speed train shooter faces murder charge

A man who grabbed and fired a policeman's gun on a high-speed train to Paris has been charged with attempted murder and kept in custody, prosecutors said on Saturday.

A passenger boards a French TGV high speed train. © AP Photo/Myriam Vogel

Brought before an instructing magistrate, the suspect "remained silent", the prosecutors' office in the eastern town of Chalon-sur-Saone said, without naming him.

After the man used a hammer to smash a window on the TGV linking Annecy with Paris on Thursday, a train inspector called for help from an armed policemen on board.

Deux jours après qu’un policier en civil est parvenu à maîtriser un voyageur armé dans un TGV Annecy-Paris, le suspect a été mis en examen et écrouéhttps://t.co/1DKlv23dnL

— Le Parisien (@le_Parisien) July 15, 2023

During a struggle the man seized the officer's service weapon and allegedly fired off a shot before he could be brought under control with the intervention of several passengers.

There were no injuries reported.

(With newsagencies)