A man suspected of perpetrating a knife and hammer attack in central Paris, resulting in the death of one person and injuring two others, has been apprehended by French police. The incident occurred at Bir Hakeim, in close proximity to the Eiffel Tower, as confirmed by France’s Interior Minister Gerald Darmanin in a statement to reporters at the scene on Saturday night.
He mentioned that the individual taken into custody was a French national with a prior history known to intelligence agencies.
One man – a German tourist born in the Philippines – was killed in the attack and two others sustained non-life threatening injuries, he added.
One of those wounded was a British national, the UK Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office said Sunday. The other was French, a spokeswoman for the anti-terrorism prosecutor’s office said.
One of the police officers responding to the scene used a taser to neutralize the attacker, Darmanin said. The suspect’s life is not at risk, he added.
“After his arrest, he said he could no longer bear to see Muslims dying in both Afghanistan and Palestine,” Darmanin said. a knife and hammer
Speaking to the press, Darmanin conveyed that the apprehended individual, born in France in 1997, had previously been sentenced to four years in prison in 2016 for plotting “violent action.” Highlighting the suspect’s history of “serious psychiatric disorders,” Darmanin provided insights into the police report, indicating that the assailant had reportedly exclaimed “Allahu Akbar” during the attack.
In a televised briefing by French anti-terrorism prosecutor Jean-François Ricard, it was revealed that the suspect had sworn allegiance to a certain group in a video posted on X. After his release from prison in 2020, he was mandated to undergo psychiatric treatment. The prosecutor’s office disclosed that three individuals close to the suspect were also detained on Sunday.
Responding to the security situation, French Prime Minister Elisabeth Borne convened a cabinet meeting on Sunday to assess the nation’s current security protocols.