A video from August when a woman opened fire outside a police station in Nice, France is viral with the false claim that it shows the recent attack in Nice in which three people were killed and which French authorities have called an "Islamist terrorist attack". BOOM found that the video is from Nice but from an incident August where a 50-year-old woman fired multiple shots into the air, in front of a supermarket and was arrested within a few minutes.
The video is viral with the caption, that claims it shows the police arresting the attacker after the knife attack in Notre Dame Basilica church in Nice, France.
This is one of the many pieces of misinformation doing the round about France following a shocking incident where a school teacher was beheaded allegedly after he showed offensive cartoons about Prophet Mohammed, as part of a class discussion on freedom of speech and expression. The incident has since led to global outrage against Islamic extremists with people protesting against the attack. It has on the other side, seen multiple protests against France and against President Emmanuel Macron who called the attack done by "Islamic terrorists".
There have also been attacks across France, with the most recent in Nice where an knife wielding attacker allegedly stabbed and decapitated, three people after entering the Notre Dame Basilica.
The caption reads, "A video appears to show the takedown of the terrorist after he murdered three, including beheading a woman in Nice, France."
The same post is being shared on Twitter.
View an archive here and here
FACT CHECK
We ran a reverse image search for the video and found news stories from August 2020 from when a woman opened fire in the air not far from a police station on Place Saetone in Nice.
According to a report in Stephanelarue (screenshot above), which carried visuals from the same video, a woman aged 50, started firing in the air outside the municipal police station in Place Saetone in Nice. The media reports further said that the woman was subdued by the police personnel and later arrested, explaining that they would conduct a psychological examination which they suspected to be the reason behind her behaviour.
None of the reports listed any injuries from the incident, specifiying that the woman fired in the air. You can read the reports here and here and here
We also found a Facebook video with the same video uploaded by a local resident, and cited by several news reports.
We also found a tweet about the same incident by Nice Mayor Christian Estrosis where he praised the police personnel for their courage and experience..
Additionally, the case is very different from the recent attack in Nice. On October 29, a man is said to have allegedly attacked church goers at the Notre-Dame basilica in Nice, France killing three people, including a religious worker at the church. According to the police the attacker, allegedly followed the third victim, who sought refuge in a cafe next to the church and killed her there. The police have also identified the attacker as a Brahim Aouissaoui who was shot at by the police and has since been arrested. Read here
BOOM has debunked several fake claims doing the rounds about the violence and attack in France.
