Paris police shoot man who attacked passers-by with knife: Officials

A local mayor said one person was killed and several injured in the afternoon attack, but police couldn’t immediately confirm the death or the number of injured people.

A man armed with a knife attacked passers-by Friday in a southern Paris park, injuring some, before being shot by police, French officials said.

French police secure an area in Villejuif near Paris, France, January 3, 2020 after police shot dead a man who tried to stab several people in a public park. (REUTERS)

A local mayor said one person was killed and several injured in the afternoon attack, but police couldn’t immediately confirm the death or the number of injured people.

The mayor, Vincent Jeanbrun, told broadcaster BFM-TV that the attacker assaulted people in a park in Villejuif, then fled to a shopping center in his area, L’Hay-les-Roses, and was shot by police there.

Police union official Yves Lefebvre said officers fired repeatedly because they feared the man was wearing an explosive belt and might blow himself up.

French Interior Ministry officials and many police were on the scene in the southern suburbs of Paris.