Story highlights
The suspect resembles a man who also attacked a French TV station
But it has not been confirmed that he is the same attacker
France's President thanked police for making the arrest and preventing more violence
The suspect allegedly shot a newspaper photographer in the chest
French prosecutors named the suspect held in connection with a newspaper shooting this week as Abdelhakim Dekhar.
Dekhar allegedly shot a photographer at the daily newspaper Liberation in Paris on Monday.
On Thursday, French President Francois Hollande thanked police for capturing him. It “prevented the worst from happening again,” he said in a statement.
Dekhar was arrested Wednesday in Bois Colombes, in the northwestern suburbs of Paris, the prosecutor’s office said.
Investigators are trying to determine if the man is connected to the shooting at the newspaper, as well as two other Monday crimes – a shooting that injured no one in front of the Societe Generale towers in Paris, and a carjacking near the towers in the Paris neighborhood of La Defense, according to CNN affiliate BFMTV.
Police said a man shot a 23-year-old assistant photographer twice near the heart in the lobby of Liberation’s offices in Paris. The photographer is being treated at a hospital.
The gunman fled after the attack, and authorities released photos showing a 5-foot-6 to 5-foot-8 man with a “European appearance” and graying hair. He was estimated to be between 35 and 45 years old. Paris police said they had no information about the man’s motive.
On Friday, a gunman broke into BFMTV, threatening journalists before fleeing.
The description of the man at Liberation is similar to that of the man at BFMTV, and the gun used was of similar caliber, police said. But it has not been established that it was the same man.
