A plain clothes police officer shot into a crowd of skirmishing soccer fans Thursday as he tried to protect supporters of Hapoel Tel Aviv, killing one person and injuring another, police said.
Hapoel Tel Aviv players Tal Shen, left, and Josef Abukassis, right, celebrate with supporters their 4-2 victory over Paris SG at the end of their UEFA soccer match on Thursday. One PSG fan was killed after a policeman fired on a crowd attacking a Hapoel fan.
Photo: AP , AP
The 11 p.m. (2200 GMT) incident at a McDonald's fast food restaurant near the Parc des Princes stadium occurred after Hapoel Tel Aviv's 4-2 victory over Paris Saint-Germain in a UEFA Cup match.
The police officer, who was not identified, was trying to protect a Hapoel Tel Aviv fan set upon by some 150 PSG supporters, police said.
The officer lobbed tear gas when the crowd went after the Hapoel supporter then fired two shots, "having been driven into a corner," police said.
Two PSG fans were injured, with one dying later, police said. The victims were not identified.
The Paris prosecutor's office and the National Police General Inspection unit, which probes incidents involving law enforcement officers, were investigating, police said.
Hapoel Tel Aviv spokesman Amir Lubin told Army Radio that throughout the match there was a very hostile atmosphere towards Hapoel and its supporters. "The Israeli crowd, who came to support their team, really wound up the local fans," said Lubin.
"We could here the chants of the French crowd which were in no way connected to football," he continued.
"It was obvious that the PSG supporters were enraged by the result of the game but we didn't imagine it would come to this," he said.
