The man had been trying to enter the police station in Barbes, northern Paris, shouting “Allahu Akbar” and threatening officers with a knife.
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An Islamic State flag was found in his possession.
A Paris police official said police were investigating the incident at the Paris police station Thursday as “more likely terrorism” than a standard criminal act.
French President Francois Hollande delivers his New Year’s speech to police forces charged with protecting the country against new attacks, at the Paris’s police headquarters, Thursday Jan. 7, 2016, one year after the attack targeting the French satirical newspaper Charlie Hebdo.
He also appeared to have some sort of explosive device strapped to his chest, with wires sticking out, said police spokesman Pierre Henry Brandet.
“The Paris prosecutor’s office opened an investigation for attempted murder on person holding public authority and in connection with a terrorist organisation”.
Alexis Mukenge, who saw the shooting from inside another building, told the network iTele that police told the man, “Stop”.
Three police officers were among the 17 dead in the attacks last January, which ended after two days of bloodshed in the Paris region.
Hollande added that over the past year, almost 200 people had been barred from leaving France on suspicion of seeking to join terrorist groups in Syria or Iraq and that over 50 foreigners had been barred from entering the country.
Aug 21, 2015: A 26 year-old Moroccan man armed with a rifle and knife attempts attack on a high-speed train bound for Paris carrying around 500 people.
France has been on high alert ever since, and was struck again November 13 by extremists dispatched by the Islamic State group.
“We know that ISIL or al Qaeda is encouraging (such attacks) in Europe, not only in France”, she told CNN, using another name for ISIS. “So we’re fortunate to see when those attacks are failing”.
Officers advised residents to remain indoors and attempted to clear the area.
“A few locals who live in flats around the police station managed to get into the area, but only after thorough searches from police sources”, said FRANCE 24’s Clovis Casali, who was at the scene. This partnership came about after the highly coordinated November terrorist attacks which left 130 dead.
The terror group’s claim of responsibility for the November killings referred to an operation in the 18th arrondissement, but none occurred there. That statement, along with a reference to eight attackers when there had only been seven, led to speculation an eighth jihadist had planned an attack in the district but backed out.
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Police stopped what could’ve been another awful tragedy in Paris on the one year anniversary of the deadly Charlie Hebdo shootings. “That probably makes me think that he made a decision to do it on his own”, he told CNN.
