Paris robber is a sacked employee

The man targeted and killed the manager who fired him

By Valerie Jones in Paris

A man who held up bank just outside Paris on Saturday, killing three people was a former employee, it has been revealed.

He has told investigators he was taking revenge on the branch manager for sacking him.

The man, armed with a gun, went to the bank in the town of Cergy-Pontoise on Saturday morning.

Click here to see map

Inside, he held about 10 of the bank's staff and customers hostage.

He was dressed in women's clothing and a wig so he would not be recognised.

He had worked for the bank in the summer of 1999 but had been sacked.

Manager targeted

He said the target of the attack was the manager who sacked him.

The branch manager was killed along with another member of the staff.

Police were alerted to the robbery by clients who found the bank locked

The gunman then fled, taking two of the hostages with him.

A motorist was killed and another seriously injured as the man tried to hijack cars for his escape.

The man was finally arrested on Sunday morning at the flat he shared with his girlfriend in a nearby town.

During his questioning on Monday, the man jumped out of a third floor window and is now being treated in hospital.

Unions want more security

Meanwhile, unions representing bank employees have called for a special meeting to discuss security.

One union says the silent alarms in the bank were not working, although they were pressed four times by the staff.

Bank security has become an issue in France, with the introduction of the Euro next January, when huge amounts of new notes and coins will be transported around the country.

---

Click here to return