Paris shooting could influence voters as they prepare for polling on Sunday

Paris

A DEADLY shootout on the Champs Elysees in Paris darkened the final day of campaigning in France's pivotal presidential election on Friday, stoking fears of terrorist violence and causing candidates to suspend last-minute pitches before the Sunday vote.

As the 11 candidates were speaking in a televised debate event before a reported audience of millions on Thursday night, a gunman opened fire with an assault rifle on a police patrol parked on the avenue, killing one officer and seriously injuring two others as a wave of panicked pedestrians fled into side streets.

The gunman was then shot dead as he tried to escape, the Paris prosecutor told reporters.

Early Friday morning, French authorities were looking for a second suspect in connection with the shooting, Pierre-Henry Brandet, said a French Interior Ministry spokesman, said on Europe 1 radio. A Belgian man was initially identified as the suspect, but authorities from that country said he had been misidentified and that they were still trying to determin…