Paris Shooting After-Effects: ISIS Fear Prompts French Polling Booth Evacuation [BREAKING]

Following the Paris shooting incident in which a policeman died, France is under extreme fear. This is evident from the appearance of a stolen vehicle with a running engine outside Besancon polling station.

While voters were involved in casting their votes for the French presidential elections 2017, the suspected sedan was put for inspection. As a result, authorities asked the voters to evacuate the polling station for further checking. Bomb disposal experts were called to the scene to examine the sedan. It was a black-colored 308 Peugeot car that was labeled as stolen. The car had fake number plates.

Police officials inspected the vehicle and seized a gun, which is reportedly a shotgun. Reports have suggested that there were armed guards patrolling outside the polling station in Besancon when the incident occurred. Despite the tight security at different polling booths, citizens seem to be insecure following the spotting of the suspicious sedan.

Though the entire nation is under fear because of the Paris shooting incident, they gathered enough courage to visit polling booths to cast their votes. But the sudden emergence of the suspicious vehicle outside the poll station led to the retention of the fear complex within voters once again. According to witnesses, the car came from a local school a few yards from the polling station. They included that there were two people inside the car who ran away, leaving the engine running.

While the French citizens are terrified by another fearful incident following the Paris shooting, Besancon Mayor Jean-Louis Fousseret seemed to ensure people’s safety at the booth. He said that the speed of the car was “very low” and there were two people inside the car who fled.

“The situation is completely re-established, the polling stations are reopened, we can vote in complete safety,” Fousseret said.

Doubs Regional Director of Public Security Benoit Desferet said that authorities have claimed that it was not a terrorist attack but a “matter of common law.” Security people, on the other hand, said that there remains a risk of militant attack during elections with the Paris shooting incident just taking place on Friday. In the recent shooting, a French jihadist shot a policeman, who died on the Champs Elysees. Another reason behind such claims is the military attacks in the past two years in France that took the lives of over 230 people. The latest reports have revealed the mobilization of over 50,000 police and elite security units throughout the nation.

The Paris shooting of 2017 has been claimed by the Islamic State. The attack came just two days prior to the first round of the French presidential elections 2017 on April 23. The French election 2017 has four frontrunners – far-left wildcard Jean-Luc Melenchon, centrist newcomer Emmanuel Macron, controversial conservative Francois Fillon, and far-right National Front leader Marine Le Pen. The latter three candidates put their campaign events on hold after the Paris shooting.

Amidst the Paris shooting incident’s side-effects, the French people seem to have more support for Marine Le Pen in the latest elections. Le Pen has always been in favor of the collapse of the European Union. If she wins, it is likely that the EU will no longer remain united.

In addition, Emmanuel Macron has also been found to have enough support from the nationals in the first round of the elections. He is the French minister of Economy, Industry and Digital Affairs. He formed a new centrist party and entered the presidential race as a maverick outsider.

The French election 2017 has 11 candidates in the run as depicted from the ballot paper. However, only the four above-mentioned leading leaders are likely to get through to the second and final round. The last phase of the election is scheduled to be held on May 7.

[Featured Image by Jeff J Mitchell/Getty Images]