At night in Paris, tourists were attacked with a knife and hammer by an armed man. One person was killed and two were injured.
The incident occurred on December 2 at around 9 pm in the 15th arrondissement of the city, near the Eiffel Tower. The criminal stabbed a citizen of Germany and the Philippines several times, after which the victim died.
The attacker tried to escape by crossing the bridge to the other side of the Seine. While running away, he attacked another tourist from the UK: he hit him in the eye with a hammer. Another passerby was slightly wounded: he was in a state of shock.
During the pursuit, the man threatened the police, said that he would detonate explosives on himself, and shouted “Allahu Akbar,” writes French Parisien. As a result, the patrol officers arrested him using an electric pulse pistol.
Police urged residents and visitors to Paris to avoid the area where the attack took place. Barriers have been installed near the Eiffel Tower.
The investigation into the incident is being conducted by the anti-terrorism prosecutor’s office.
The country’s interior minister said that the perpetrator, a French citizen of Iranian origin, was entered into police databases as a follower of radical Islam. The man suffers from a mental disorder and undergoes periodic treatment. Previously, from 2016 to 2020, he had already served time in prison for a planned attack.
Before the incident itself, the terrorist made a two-minute video in which he swore allegiance to the Islamic State and stated that he was going to avenge the Muslims who were dying in Afghanistan and Palestine.
Several similar incidents have occurred in France recently. In October, a terrorist attack at a school in the north of the country left one teacher dead and another wounded. In June, a Syrian national wounded several people in the Alpine town of Annecy. Another terrorist attack took place in January: a criminal attacked people at the Paris North Station, after which he was shot dead by police.