Overview
- The daytime raid took place Thursday around 11:15 a.m. when four masked men in black entered the De Beers store at 12 rue de la Paix, displayed assault rifles and fled within minutes on two scooters.
- Witnesses filmed the attack and said one suspect guarded the sidewalk with a visible weapon while the others grabbed high-value items inside the boutique.
- Preliminary estimates from police and media place the value of the stolen luxury goods in the hundreds of thousands of euros and near one million euros, pending a full inventory.
- No shots were fired and there were no injuries; De Beers confirmed the assault, said staff are receiving support and kept the store closed as investigators work.
- Authorities have opened an investigation for armed robbery by an organized gang and are combing CCTV and reconstructing the escape route, a probe that raises fresh questions about security in Paris’s luxury jewelry district after past high-profile thefts.