Drugs, alcohol found in Orly airport gunman's blood

Blood tests have revealed that a gunman who attacked soldiers at Orly airport in Paris on Saturday was under the influence of drugs and alcohol.

Paris prosecutors' office said toxicology tests during his autopsy found traces of cocaine and cannabis. Ziyed Ben Belgacem’s blood alcohol level were also found to be at nearly twice the legal limit for driving in France.

“Toxicology tests carried out on Sunday showed an alcohol level of 0.93 grams per litre in his blood, and the presence of cannabis and cocaine,” the source said.

Ben Belgacem’s father had insisted earlier Sunday that his son was not an extremist and that his actions were caused by drink and drugs.

“My son was not a terrorist. He never prayed, and he drank,” the father, who was in shock and whose first name was not given, told Europe 1 radio. “But under the effects of alcohol and cannabis, this is where one ends up," he said.

Ben Belgacem, 39, grabbed a soldier on patrol at Orly’s southern terminal on Saturday morning and put a gun to her head as he seized her rifle, saying he wanted to “die for Allah”.

The attacker, who had also fired at police in a northern Paris suburb earlier that morning, was shot dead by two other soldiers after a scuffle.

The incident led to a major security scare and the temporary closure of the capital’s second-busiest airport.

The attack at Orly comes with France still on high alert following a wave of jihadist attacks that have claimed more than 230 lives in two years.

The violence has made security a key issue in France’s two-round presidential election on 23 April and 7 May.