An armed man is holding at least five people 'hostage' inside a tobacconist's shop in the Toulouse suburb of Blagnac in southwestern France, according to local reports.
French Police have been pictured at the scene near one of France's biggest airports.
French media are reporting the gunman made a robbery attempt and threatened to fire at police officers.
The incident began to unfold around 4pm local time, according to French broadcaster France 3 Occitanie,which reported that six people were being held hostage.
Several French news sites are reporting the man is carrying a GoPro camera and demanding a negotiator be brought in.
It is reporting he fired two shots about an hour-and-a-half into the hostage situation to keep the security perimeter away.
Officers from the specialist RAID (Search Assistance Intervention Deterrence) unit were called to the business in Blagnac, where Toulouse airport is situated, soon after 4pm, local time.
Dad-of-two crushed to death by car he was working on as heartbroken wife pays tribute
"A security perimeter has been placed around the scene and people are being asked to avoid the area," said a local police spokesman.
"There are fears that the hostage taker has threatened to shoot police, and he should not be approached under any circumstances. He is holding five hostages and asking to speak to a negotiator."
The newsagents, which has been owned by the same local family for up to five decades, is on the Plan du Port square in the town.
Locals said they had been asked to stay in their homes, and to close their shutters.
France has been hit by a series of terrorist attacks over the past five years, but police sources said today’s incident looked more like a ‘robbery that has gone wrong’.
French Police have tweeted that there is an ongoing police operator in Blagnac and asked people to avoid the area around the perimeter.
