At least six people were injured in an unprovoked attack by a suspect carrying a “bladed weapon” at the busy Gare du Nord train station in Paris Wednesday.
At least one police officer was attacked along with five civilians before shots were heard during morning rush hour. The suspect was apprehended.
France’s Interior Minister Gerald Darmanin said the suspect was “between life and death” in a hospital after having been shot in the chest by authorities.
French police stand guard in a cordoned off area at Paris’ Gare du Nord train station, after several people were lightly wounded by a man wielding a knife on Jan. 11, 2023.
(JULIEN DE ROSA/AFP via Getty Images)
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Darmanin said the suspect was “neutralized” within a minute of the first attack and thanked the police officers involved “for their effective and courageous reaction.”
“Without the extremely rapid intervention, there would surely be deaths,” he added.
The interior minister, who was joined by Paris Mayor Anne Hidalgo, said the first victim was attacked at 6:42 a.m. and by 6:43 police officers had “used their administrative weapon[s].”
It is unclear how many shots were fired and whether the unidentified suspect was shot more than once.
French Interior Minister Gerald Darmanin, center, talks to the press next to Junior Minister for Transports Clement Beaune, left, Paris’ Mayor Anne Hidalgo, right, and Paris Police Prefect Laurent Nunez, second from left, at Paris’ Gare du Nord train station, after several people were wounded.
(JULIEN DE ROSA/AFP via Getty Images)
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Darmanin told reporters that the weapon the suspect used was “not a knife” but appeared to be a homemade device.
French media has reported that the suspect first threw himself on a man at the entrance to the train station before stabbing the initial victim 15 times.
The suspect then moved on to attack four other civilians inside the train station along with a police officer with France’s border guard, who was not seriously injured due to the protection of a bulletproof vest.
Two other officers were alerted to the attacks after screams rang out as the police officer was being attacked.
Details surrounding how the suspect was “neutralized” have not been released.
The man attacked outside the train station is the only victim to have sustained serious injuries from the morning assault.
French police cordon off an area at Paris’ Gare du Nord train station, after a knife-wielding suspect injured six people, including a police officer, at the Gare du Nord train station in Paris on Jan. 11, 2023.
(JULIEN DE ROSA/AFP via Getty Images)
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French authorities are investigating whether the actions mount to attempted assassination charges.
French authorities said the suspect did not say anything during the attack and authorities do not believe he has any connection with extremist groups.
The Associated Press contributed to this report.
