Far-right activist kills himself in Notre Dame cathedral in Paris

78-year-old shoots himself in front of altar

Police evacuated Notre Dame cathedral in Paris today after a well-known far-right former activist shot himself in the mouth in front of its main altar, a police source said.

The man, 78-year-old Dominique Venner, is a historian known in France for his far-right political essays. He carried a letter on his person but made no declaration before shooting himself dead in the mid-afternoon, the source said.

A note posted on his blog dated May 21st slammed a law passed by the Socialist government last week allowing same-sex marriage.

Notre Dame is one of Paris’ most visited tourist attractions.

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It is the first suicide in decades at the landmark site, rector Monsignor Patrick Jacquin said. “It’s unfortunate, it’s dramatic, it’s shocking,” he said. The death comes less than a week after another unusual suicide in central Paris, when a man shot himself in front of a dozen schoolchildren at a private Catholic school. The Eiffel Tower occasionally shuts down because of suicides or attempts to jump off its ledges

Agencies