One person was killed and two others injured after a man attacked tourists in central Paris near the Eiffel Tower, the French Interior Minister, Gérald Darmanin said on Saturday.
Darmanin told reporters that the Police quickly arrested the 26-year-old man, a French national, using a Taser stun gun to attack passersby near the Eiffel Tower
According to the Minister, the suspect, who has been on the French security services’ watchlist for some time, had a history of mental illness.
The attack took place about 7 pm GMT when the man attacked a tourist couple with a knife on the Quai de Grenelle, a few feet away from the Eiffel Tower, mortally wounding a German national. He was then chased by police and attacked two other people with a hammer before being arrested.
The suspect had shouted out “Allahu Akbar” (God is greatest) and told police he was upset because “so many Muslims are dying in Afghanistan and Palestine” and was also upset about the Gaza situation, Darmanin said.
Meanwhile, the Agence France Presse (AFP) reported that the antiterrorism prosecutor’s office has been put in charge of an investigation.
