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Three women wounded in Paris knife attack; off-duty policeman catches suspect
The incident took place at around 11:30 am (0930 GMT) in the Porte de Clichy area in the north of the French Capital
An unidentified man allegedly attacked three women in Paris with two kitchen knives and wounded them, a minister and a police said. Following the assault, the suspect was detained by a French off-duty policeman and other bystanders who pinned him to the ground, news agency Reuters reported.
The incident took place at around 11:30 am (0930 GMT) in the Porte de Clichy area in the north of the French capital, interior minister Laurent Nunez and Paris police said, according to AFP.
The identity of the suspect and his motive were not immediately clear. Nunez also said the suspect was “apprehended by an off-duty police officer”. Nunez said the suspect had made “incoherent statements”, but warned against jumping to any conclusions regarding his motive.
Two among three victims critical, one pregnant
The three victims — aged 19, 24 and 36 — were rushed to the hospital after the incident. Among them, two sustained serious wounds and were reported to be in a critical condition, according to Nunez.
One was hit in the lower back and the other sustained a wound to her abdomen. Further, one of the three women was pregnant, Geoffroy Boulard, the mayor of the northwest 17th district, where the stabbings took place, said in a post on X.
‘Young man hit him with small suitcase’: Eyewitness recounts how suspect was detained
A 54-year-old waitress, Kheira Dellabed, said she was washing dishes at the time of the stabbing incident. She said she had seen a “man walk by with two knives and stab three people.”
Thereafter, she saw “a young man” with a small suitcase hit the suspect with his bag, and knock him down to the ground, AFP reported citing the witness. She said a waiter from a nearby restaurant then put a chair “on him (suspect).”
Snapchat video shows man carrying big knives, attempting to stab young woman
A video which surfaced on Snapchat and was verified by Reuters showed a man with long black hair wearing a cream tracksuit and carrying one big knife in each hand. He was seen trying to attack and stab a young woman.
HT could not independently verify the authenticity of the video.
The video was shot by 26-year-old Mohamed-Ali Bouhadjar, who posted it on Snapchat. Bouhadjar told Reuters that he had started making noise after he saw the suspect “stab a woman in the back”. “I started shouting, 'Come on, let's stop him!' Several people stepped in,” he said.
Bouhadjar said one person, seemingly the off-duty officer, had thrown a suitcase at the suspect, following which he dropped his knives.
“At that moment, I grabbed him, swept his legs out from under him, and we pinned him to the ground,” Bouhadjar told Reuters. Another part of Bouhadjar's video shows the suspect pinned to the ground as bystanders are seen surrounding him. The two knives are seen lying nearby on a pedestrian crossing.
