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Paris police shoot man who attacked officer outside Notre Dame Cathedral Paris police shoot man who attacked officer outside Notre Dame Cathedral
(about 1 hour later)
Police in Paris have shot and injured a man who tried to attack an officer with a hammer outside Notre Dame Cathedral. French police have shot a man who attacked an officer with a hammer outside Notre Dame Cathedral in Paris.
The man attempted to assault the officer as he patrolled on the esplanade in front of the cathedral in the French capital, said Cedric Michel, a police union official. The assailant, later found to be also armed with kitchen knives, was brought down as he threatened passersby outside one of the French capital’s busiest tourist attractions on Tuesday afternoon.
Plainclothes police officers, doctors and paramedics surrounded the suspected attacker, who was taken to hospital after being shot in the legs. Hundreds of people took refuge in the cathedral and nearby cafes as more than 100 police officers rushed to the scene.
Yves Lefebvre, a police spokesman, said: “The man approached a police officer, took a hammer from his backpack and hit the police officer over the head. His colleague saw what happened and shot him [the attacker]. I understand the police officer who was attacked is slightly hurt.” The French interior minister, Gérard Collomb, said the attacker, whose ID suggests he is an Algerian student, was carrying “rudimentary weapons” and shouted “this is for Syria” as he hit the 22-year-old police officer.
An American man who was in Notre Dame on Tuesday afternoon tweeted from inside the cathedral: The minister visited the prefecture of police, 50 metres from the scene of the attack, to talk to officers involved in the incident. He said the man approached a police patrol from behind at about 4.20pm on Tuesday, took a hammer out of his backpack and hit one of the officers in the head.
“His colleague reacted with sang-froid and fired to ensure the attacked officer was not further injured,” Collomb said. “I understand the police officer was only slightly injured but it could have been much worse if their colleague had not reacted so quickly. The attacker was injured and we are waiting for the prognostic.
“Once again the police and forces of security, in our country like other countries in Europe, are vicitim of an attack in the name of a criminal ideology. We see here we have passed from a sophisticated terrorism to one where the most ordinary tools can be used.
“The attacker is thought to be an Algerian student, carrying a card that we have to verify authenticity that’s all we know right now.”
Collomb said the government was considering renewing the state of emergency, in place since the bombings and shootings in Paris in November 2015 that left 130 dead.
“The fight against terrorism is a priority for the president of the republic,” he said, adding that a defence meeting would be held at the Élysée Palace on Wednesday morning.
Police asking everyone to raise their hands in the church pic.twitter.com/y5KkyWqdWKPolice asking everyone to raise their hands in the church pic.twitter.com/y5KkyWqdWK
Police asked people to stay away from the area, which was evacuated. Large numbers of police cars surrounded the cathedral on the Île de la Cité island on the river Seine in the centre of Paris. The attack came just three days after three knife-wielding men drove a van into pedestrians on London Bridge before stabbing people at restaurants and bars near Borough Market, leaving seven people dead.
The French prosecutor’s office said the counter-terrorism office had launched an investigation into the incident. Police said the area would remain sealed until they were confident there was no further danger. The Notre Dame incident was the latest in a series of attacks on French police and soldiers. One officer was shot dead by a gunman on the Champs Élysées in April.
Forty minutes after the incident, the Paris prefecture of police tweeted: “Situation under control. One police officer injured. The attacker has been neutralised and taken to hospital.” In February, an Egyptian man caused panic near the Louvre when he ran at soldiers with a machete. A month later, a suspected Islamist terrorist wrestled a soldier to the ground and grabbed their gun as they patrolled Orly airport, before being shot dead.
France has been under a state of emergency that was introduced following the Islamic extremist attack in Paris in November 2015 that killed 130 people. In January 2015, a day after the attack on the Charlie Hebdo headquarters, a police officer was killed by a gunman who later took hostages in a Jewish supermarket, killing four.
The city remains on high alert after a series of further attacks in recent years, including several targeting police officers and security personnel. In June 2016, a French police officer and his wife, who worked for the interior ministry, were murdered in their home in front of their toddler son in an attack claimed by Islamic State.
In April, an attacker opened fire on a police van on the Champs Élysées, killing one and gravely wounding two others. The assailant was shot dead by police. French anti-terrorist investigators have opened an inquiry into Tuesday’s attack.
The incident recalled two recent attacks on soldiers providing security at prominent locations around Paris, one at the Louvre museum in February and one at Orly airport in March.