Knife and hammer attack in Paris leaves one dead, two injured

• A knife and hammer attack in Paris has left one person dead and two injured.
• The attack happened on Saturday near the Eiffel Tower.
• The suspect is a 26-year-old French national who was known to security services.

An attack with a knife and hammer on a street in the heart of Paris has left one guy dead and two injured.

The attack happened on Saturday just before 21:00 local time (20:00 GMT) on the Quai de Grenelle, close to the Eiffel Tower.

An investigation has been launched by anti-terrorism prosecutors into the arrest of a 26-year-old French national who was known to security services.

Authorities verified that the deceased individual was a citizen of Germany.

According to France’s Interior Minister, Gérald Darmanin, the victim—who was born in 1997—was ambushed and fatally stabbed while he was with his wife.

He said that the suspect escaped over a nearby bridge that crossed the Seine River and that the wife’s life was spared thanks to the intervention of a taxi driver.

The minister claimed that after attacking two more people, the man struck one in the eye with a hammer.

After that, the suspect was arrested by police and taken into custody on suspicion of attempted assassination in connection with a terrorist organization and assassination, which is defined by French law as premeditated murder.

After receiving medical attention from emergency personnel, neither of the two injured individuals—a Frenchman in his 60s and a foreign visitor—were determined to be in critical condition.

Authorities issued a warning to the public to stay away from the Bir-Hakeim metro station on Saturday night following the start of a police operation in the vicinity.

According to Mr. Darmanin, the alleged attacker was heard yelling “Allahu Akbar,” which means “God is greatest,” and complaining to authorities about how many Muslims were dying in Palestine and Afghanistan.

According to him, the suspect was on the blacklist of the French security services and had served four years in prison after being found guilty of plotting an additional attack in 2016.

Mr. Darmanin added that the man’s history included mental health issues.

The suspect criticized the French government and talked about what he called the killing of innocent Muslims in a video that was shared on social media on Saturday, according to an international news agency.

French President Emmanuel Macron expressed his condolences to everyone impacted by the “terrorist attack” in a post on X, the old Twitter platform. He also commended the emergency services for their prompt action.

“The national anti-terrorist prosecutor’s office will now be responsible for shedding light on this affair so that justice can be done in the name of the French people,” he stated.

It occurs less than two months after a knife assault at a high school in the northern city of Arras claimed the life of a teacher, forcing the French government to declare the nation under the highest state of national security alert.

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