French police on Thursday shot useless a person who injured an officer with a knife within the high-end Champs-Elysees neighborhood in Paris, authorities mentioned, simply days earlier than the opening ceremony of the Summer Olympics.
Paris police chief Laurent Nunez mentioned the assault didn’t seem linked to the Olympics and no terrorist motive was suspected.
French Interior Minister Gerald Darmanin posted on X that the assault occurred within the eighth arrondissement of Paris whereas police have been “responding to a call from officers securing a store.”
Speaking in entrance of the flagship Louis Vuitton retailer on the Champs-Elysees after the stabbing, Paris police chief Laurent Nunez mentioned the assailant “pulled out a knife and threatened them (the officers), tried to stab them a number of instances and succeeded in stabbing.”
He defended the police response as “totally proportionate. They were facing an assailant who was threatening their lives.”
Nunez mentioned the officer was critically injured to the neck however his life was not in peril.
The assailant, a 27-year-old Senegalese nationwide with residency papers, was shot and critically injured, Nunez mentioned.
A supply within the prosecutors’ workplace later instructed Agence France-Presse (AFP) the person had died and added {that a} prison investigation had been launched into the assault.
The space was thronging with vacationers and Parisians when the assault occurred across the nook from the Louis Vuitton boutique. Some took photographs as police cordoned off the realm, whereas others continued their eating in close by sidewalk cafes.
Security brokers at Louis Vuitton contacted police after noticing “suspicious behavior” by a person outdoors the shop, in line with a police official. The retailer usually has lengthy traces outdoors and is among the many greatest attracts on an avenue full of luxurious boutiques. The assault occurred on a avenue close by, not on the Champs-Elysees itself.
Police reinforcements reportedly rushed in after the stabbing. At a luxurious resort close by, visitors arriving in a taxi needed to move underneath police tape to enter their resort, as a porter wheeled their baggage underneath the cordon.
Thursday’s knife assault comes simply days after a person stabbed and wounded a French soldier patrolling Paris on Monday outdoors the Gare de l’Est practice station in jap Paris. The man was taken to a psychiatric hospital, in line with French prosecutors.
France is underneath its highest safety alert earlier than the beginning of the Paris Games on July 26. Paris police imposed strict new safety measures within the heart of city beginning Thursday to organize for the distinctive opening ceremony, which shall be held within the open all alongside the Seine River as an alternative of in a closed stadium.
Darmanin is staying on in a caretaker position on the inside ministry till a brand new authorities is fashioned within the wake of a legislative election earlier this month.
Source: www.dailysabah.com