Stephanie Lecocq/Portal
After the attack in Paris on December 2nd, French police secure the Bir Hakeim Bridge.
Paris, France CNN —
French police have arrested a man suspected of killing one person and wounding two others in a knife and hammer attack in central Paris.
The attack occurred in Bir Hakeim near the Eiffel Tower, France’s Interior Minister Gérald Darmanin told reporters at the scene on Saturday evening.
He said the arrested man was a French citizen who had previously been known to the intelligence services.
One man – a German tourist born in the Philippines – was killed in the attack and two others suffered non-life-threatening injuries, he added.
One of the police officers on scene used a Taser to neutralize the attacker, Darmanin said. The suspect’s life was not in danger, he added.
“After his arrest, he said he could no longer bear to watch Muslims die in both Afghanistan and Palestine,” Darmanin said.
Addressing reporters, Darmanin said the suspect was born in France in 1997 and had already been sentenced to four years in prison in 2016 for planning “violent actions.”
The secret services were aware that the suspect had “serious psychiatric disorders,” Darmanin added.
The minister said police told him that the attacker reportedly shouted “Allahu Akbar” during the attack.
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French President Emmanuel Macron called the incident a terrorist attack and said France’s anti-terrorism prosecutor’s office would launch an investigation.
“I express my full condolences to the family and relatives of the German citizen who died this evening,” Macron wrote in a post on X in the early hours of Sunday morning.
He also thanked the French emergency services.
“The National Anti-Terror Prosecutor’s Office will now be responsible for shedding light on this matter so that justice can be served on behalf of the French people,” Macron wrote.
Videos taken at the scene showed police cars, ambulances and the Paris Fire Department arriving, with heavy traffic being diverted. Numerous barriers were also erected.
The public was advised to avoid the area.
This is a developing story and will be updated.