A knifeman has been shot dead near the Eurostar hub in Paris today after he threatened a mountain bike policeman with a knife.
The drama unfolded at around 11am on Sunday morning in the French capital as the policeman guarded three bikes.
‘The officer was standing by the mountain bikes while two of his colleagues attended a domestic incident in a nearby building,’ said an investigating source.
‘A man began threatening the policeman, and then approached him with a knife, while ignoring warnings.
The drama unfolded at around 11am on Sunday morning in the French capital as the policeman guarded three bikes. Stock picture
‘The officer said he had no option but to open fire with his service pistol, and the knifeman was hit three times before dying on the spot,’ said the source.
According to local reports the attacker tried to flee the scene after revealing his knife to the officer but the policeman chased after him with his baton.
The attacker then turned and tried to stab the policeman so the officer was forced to shoot him, according to Le Figaro.
As is always the case when a police officer uses his weapon, an investigation has been opened by the Paris prosecutor’s office and entrusted to the General Inspectorate of the National Police (IGPN).
Neither the dead attacker nor the policeman who killed him have yet been identified.
It follows a series of terrorist incidents across France in which radicalised young men have attacked the forces of law and order and others with knives and other weapons.
The officer was standing by the mountain bikes while two of his colleagues attended a domestic incident in a nearby building. Stock picture
But early investigations into today’s shooting have not uncovered any evidence of terrorism, said the source.
Paris prosecutors had visited the scene by early afternoon, together with investigators from the Judicial Police.
‘Investigations are being entrusted to the IPGN,’ said a police spokesman, referring to the General Inspectorate of the National Police in France.
‘The exact circumstances of what happened have yet to be established,’ said the spokesman, who said the death took place in Rue Boinod, in the 18th district of Paris.
It is close to the main railway lines from which hight speed trains travel to and from cities including London.
Yoann Maras, of the Alliance police union, said it was unlikely to be a terrorist attack, and more likely an incident involving a ‘disturbed person’.
It follows six years of savage Islamist attacks in France, including the beheading of schoolteacher Samuel Paty by a Russian-born terrorist in October last year.
The deadliest single terrorist attack ever in the country came in November 2015 when 130 people were killed in Paris.
Suicide bombers pledging allegiance to ISIS targeted the Stade de France, cafes, restaurants and the Bataclan music venue, where 90 died.
Earlier in the year, two Paris-born gunmen linked to Al-Qaeda broke into the offices of the Charlie Hebdo satirical magazine, leaving 12 dead and 11 wounded.
In July 2016, 86 people were killed and more than 400 injured when a 19-tonne truck was deliberately driven into crowds on the seafront promenade at Nice, in the South of France.
The terrorist turned out to be a radicalised Tunisian immigrant who was shot dead by police.
During the same month, two Isis terrorists murdered an 86-year-old Catholic priest during a church service in Normandy.
There have been frequent knife attacks on the forces of law and order, leading to the deaths of serving police.
In October 2019, a radicalised computer operative working at the Paris Prefecture in central Paris stabbed four of his colleagues to death.
The attacker – who was also shot dead – turned out to be a Muslim convert who kept extremist Al-Qaeda and Islamic State literature and images on his computer.