Chrystel told the Associated Press "we were better off inside than outside". Raised in a strictly Salafist Muslim family, Djaziri had no criminal record but caught the attention of authorities after making several trips to Turkey - a route used by many European fighters heading to Syria - which he said were for work.
In July past year, 86 people were killed when a truck plowed through a crowd in Nice, and similar incidents have occurred in other European cities.
But French Interior Minister Gerard Collomb called it an "attempted attack" on security forces, and France's anti-terrorism prosecutor has opened an investigation.
Collomb said Monday's incident shows that France remains at high risk of a terrorist attack.
Two police officials identified the attacker as 31-year-old Adam Djaziri from the Paris suburb of Argenteuil, and said he had been on police radar for ties to radicalism.
The interior minister said the man was killed in the incident. It was the second major incident on the avenue this year.
The attack occurred just a short distance from where a jihadist shot dead a police officer two months earlier.
Security analysts say vehicle attacks often represent last-ditch attempts at violence that are hard to prevent.
Interior ministry spokesman Pierre-Henry Brandet said police had pulled the driver out of the flaming vehicle and he was "very likely dead".
United States urges China to pressure North Korea to rein in weapons progams
Warmbier's death makes it imperative that North Korea release three other Americans it has detained. The U.S. often sends powerful warplanes in times of heightened animosities with North Korea.
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Police say the situation is now under control, and a bomb disposal unit is on the scene.
WJC President Ronald Lauder said in a statement Monday that the organization stands together with the people of London "in confronting another awful act of terror".
As The Two-Way has reported, a man opened fire on police in April killing one officer and wounding two others. The French Interior Ministry said it was a deliberate attack and that the vehicle was laden with explosives.
No one else was injured despite the crowds of tourists and others walking down the avenue on a hot, sunny day, the Paris police department said.
"Enough to allow him to blow up this vehicle", Collomb said.
The tweet Monday confirmed an attack had taken place on Paris' famed Champs-Elysees.
-Twitter/elugeescojonudoDramatic moment a known extremist is pulled out of a vehicle filled with explosives as it billows smoke after smashing into police on the Champs-Elysees.
The attack Monday was the latest of a string in France and Britain.
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