French police have arrested a man suspected of killing one person and injuring two others in a knife and hammer attack in central Paris.
The attack took place at Bir Hakeim, near the Eiffel Tower, France’s Interior Minister Gerald Darmanin told reporters at the scene on Saturday night.
He said that the man arrested was a French citizen previously known to intelligence services.
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.
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.
Suspect was known to intelligence services
Addressing reporters, Darmanin said that the suspect was born in France in 1997 and had been sentenced to four years in prison back in 2016 for planning “violent action.”
The suspect was known to intelligence services for having “serious psychiatric disorders,” Darmanin added.
The minister said he had been told by police that the attacker had reportedly shouted “Allahu Akbar” during the assault.
French President Emmanuel Macron called the incident a terror attack and said France’s anti-terrorism prosecutor’s office would investigate.
“I send all my condolences to the family and loved ones of the German national who died this evening,” Macron wrote in a post on X in the early hours of Sunday.
He also thanked the French emergency services.
“The national anti-terrorism prosecutor’s office now will be responsible for shedding light on this matter so that justice can be done in the name of the French people,” Macron wrote.
Videos taken at the scene showed police cars, ambulances and the Paris Fire Brigade arriving, with heavy traffic being diverted away. Numerous cordons were also set up.
Members of the public have been advised to avoid the area.
This is a developing story and will be updated.