Police have searched the home of a career criminal previously jailed for shooting a police officer as the investigation into a terror attack in Paris continues.
Karim Cheurfi, 39, lived with his family in the suburb of Chelles, where his home has been shut off by counter-terror investigators.
Neighbours voiced their shock at the operation, which came as police hunt for a potential accomplice identified by Belgian security services.
Officials did not say whether Cheurfi, who has an extensive criminal record including theft and attempted murder, was being investigated as a perpetrator or associate.
He was jailed for attempted murders that saw him shoot two police officers – one during a car chase in 2001 and a second man days later when he shot an officer after seizing his gun in custody, Le Parisien reported.
At a trial in 2003, Cheurfi was sentenced to 20 years imprisonment and it was unclear when he was released.
Pierre-Henry Brandet, a spokesperson for the French interior ministry, described the suspected gunman, who has not yet been officially named, as an “individual known by the judiciary and police services – a dangerous individual”.
The gunman was shot dead at the scene and has been identified by authorities, but an alert has been issued for a second suspect by Belgian security services.
Mr Brandet told Europe 1 radio the wanted man had been named as a possible accomplice, but that it was too early to establish a link with the attack.
Francois Hollande chaired a meeting of the national defence council early on Friday morning, just two days before voting to elect his successor begins.
Speaking afterwards, Prime Minister Bernard Cazeneuve extended a “solemn tribute” to the police and military and said security measures were in place under France’s extended state of emergency.
Isis claimed responsibility for Thursday night’s attack, saying it was carried out by an “Islamic State fighter” given the war name Abu Yusuf al-Baljiki, indicating he came from Belgium.
The speed of the claim and the fact the attacker was identified suggests he was in contact with the group and informed militants of his plan in advance.
War names were previously used by Isis to identify the jihadis who carried out the Paris and Brussels attacks, which were coordinated with commanders in Syria
The attack came just days before the French presidential election, following an operation to foil an “imminent” Isis bombing plot that was in an advanced stage of preparation.
Witnesses said a man pulled up in a car behind a police van and opened fire with a Kalashnikov outside a Marks & Spencer's department store on the famous Champs-Elysees.
One officer was killed and two more injured, as well as a female passer-by who prosecutors said was a foreign tourist.
One of the officers underwent emergency surgery overnight, but an interior ministry official said both injured officers were now “out of danger”.
It was one of almost a dozen attacks and plots targeting the French security services since 2012, including the murder of a police officer and his wife by an Isis supporter north of Paris, a machete attack outside Le Louvre.
