An Attacker Near Notre Dame Cathedral in Paris Injured by Police Gunfire

On Tuesday, June 6, French police shot and injured a man who attacked an officer with a hammer in front of Notre Dame Cathedral in Paris. Notre Dame is one of the most famous tourist attractions in Paris. According to the French Interior Minister, the assailant charged at police officers patrolling around the cathedral while shouting 'for Syria.' The Paris Prosecutor's Office stated that anti-terrorism investigations began shortly after the incident occurred. The assailant was injured by police gunfire. The Interior Minister mentioned that police recovered kitchen knives, a hammer, and other simple weapons from the assailant. This is the latest incident of attacks on law enforcement and security personnel in the streets of Paris. In April, an armed assailant shot at a police van on the Champs-Élysées, resulting in one officer's death and another's serious injury. The assailant was killed by police gunfire. Immediately after the attack outside the church, police held several hundred visitors inside the building for a while. An American tourist told the Associated Press that he was at the front of the line to enter the cathedral when suddenly everyone began to flee in panic. He reported hearing three gunshots before seeing the assailant's body lying on the ground about 30 meters from the cathedral's walls. According to this 49-year-old tourist, many people ran towards the metro station while others tried to take refuge inside the cathedral. He and his wife, along with about 500 others, stayed inside the cathedral for a while. The atmosphere was very somber, and most people prayed during this time. A 73-year-old American tourist who was across the Seine River in front of the cathedral at the time of the incident reported hearing a commotion followed by what sounded like two gunshots. A journalist whose office overlooks the area around Notre Dame tweeted that he heard two sounds resembling gunfire and shared an image of what appeared to be a lifeless man lying on the ground. Around 5:25 PM local time, Paris police announced that operations around Notre Dame had concluded and that the assailant who attacked police officers had been injured by gunfire. A police spokesperson, without providing further details, told the Associated Press that security operations and the response to the attack had ended. The Paris police tweeted that one police officer was also injured. As police operations were ongoing, hundreds of people were evacuated from the area.