A man has injured six people with a knife in a busy Paris train station leaving one with life-threatening injuries.
Police said the incident took place at around 6.45am on Wednesday morning in Gare du Nord.
The attacker was shot in the chest several times by police and taken to hospital with serious injuries, police said. One police source added that the officer who shot the attacker was off-duty.
The attacker’s motivations are not immediately clear, the force added.
Minister of the interior, Gerald Darmanin told reporters at the scene that the man attacked several people including a police officer, adding that the unnamed attacker was “in between life and death” in hospital.
Mr Darmanin said the attacker's weapon was in fact “not a knife” but likely a homemade weapon. He said the suspect was reported not to have said anything during the assault and that investigators have not discovered any extremist links.
According to French media reports, the suspect first threw himself upon a man in front of the train station. The assailant then entered the station and attacked four civilians and a police officer, the media reports said.
Screams alerted two other police officers who intervened while the suspect was attacking the officer. The officer for France's border guard was stabbed in the back but not seriously wounded because of a bulletproof vest, Mr Darmanin said.
The man stabbed outside the station was the only person who sustained serious wounds in the attack, officials said. Police opened an investigation into whether the attack merited attempted assassination charges.
He tweeted this morning: “An individual injured several people this morning at the Gare du Nord.
“He was quickly neutralized. Thank you to the police for their effective and courageous response.
Rail network TER Hauts-de-France said in a statement: “Traffic is disrupted on departure and arrival from Paris Nord.
“The police have opened fire against a threatening person who is said to have injured customers in Gare du Nord.
“The person was brought under control, the emergency services intervened and the person evacuated.
“A security perimeter has been established but the station continues to operate normally.”
Police officials were not immediately available for comment.
The station is one of the busiest in Europe and a major link between Paris, London and the north of Europe.
The stabbing comes less than a month after a gunman killed three people at a Kurdish cultural centre and nearby Kurdish cafe in the French capital, prompting violent protests in nearby streets as night fell.
President Emmanuel Macron said France’s Kurdish community had been the target of a heinous attack while French interior minister Gerald Darmanin said the suspected assailant had clearly wanted to target foreigners.
A man, who police said had previously attacked a migrant camp in the French capital, was arrested over the shooting. Police said the attack happened on Rue d’Enghien, in the 10th arrondissement. The local mayor told French media that the Kurdish community centre, a restaurant and a hairdresser were affected.
All three of those who died were Kurdish, a lawyer for the Kurdish cultural centre told Reuters. Three others were also wounded, with one criticially injured and two less seriously hurt. The suspect was wounded in the face.
Riot police fired teargas to push back an angry crowd a short distance from the scene of the shootings as projectiles were thrown at officers. Footage showed people starting a fire in the middle of the street and throwing chairs and other objects. Rubbish bins and restaurant tables were overturned.
The Kurdish Democratic Council in France (CDF-K), which runs the cultural centre, condemned the attack in a statement. A vigil was also held to pay tribute to those killed. A demonstration is also planned on Paris’s Place de la République on Saturday.
There is no confirmed motive for the shooting, but Paris prosecutor Laure Beccuau said the suspect had recently been freed from detention while awaiting trial for a separate incident.
That incident – in which he attacked tents at a migrant camp in Paris with a sword – took place at Bercy in December 2021. It is not yet clear why he was released from custody.
