In Paris suburb

Police shot man armed with knives

One of the police officers initially used a stun gun. When this had no effect, an officer shot the gunman.

(Bild: AFP/AFP (Archivbild))

A man armed with two knives was shot dead by a police officer during an attempted attack on a patrol in the Paris suburb of Dugny (Seine-Saint-Denis) at around 7 a.m. on Wednesday. 

The attacker was a homeless man who was known in the area, explained the city's security officer, Thierry Pichot-Maufroy, on Wednesday. Witnesses had stated that the man had been shouting beforehand. The man has yet to be officially identified.

Before the attack, the man was sitting at a bus stop with a knife in each hand. When the officers arrived, the armed man lunged at the police officers without saying a word. 

No terrorist background suspected
They initially used a stun gun, but it had no effect because the man was wearing several layers of clothing. A police officer then "made use of his weapon", shot and hit the man in the chest. The police are not assuming a terrorist background.

An investigation is now underway into attempted intentional homicide. The police inspectorate also began an investigation into the use of the service weapon. According to the police inspectorate, a total of 36 people were killed in police operations in 2023.

There are repeated stabbing attacks in France. Just last Saturday, a 67-year-old man was killed in a suspected Islamist knife attack in Mulhouse near the German border. The perpetrator was an Algerian who had to leave the country.