PARIS (AP) — A police officer was wounded in a knife attack in Paris on Thursday in the high-end Champs-Elysees neighborhood and the assailant was immediately “neutralized,” authorities said, just days before the opening ceremony of the Summer Olympics.
French Interior Minister Gerald Darmanin posted on X that the attack happened in the 8th arrondissement of Paris while police were “responding to a call from officers securing a store.”
Speaking in front of the flagship Louis Vuitton store on the Champs-Elysees after the stabbing, Paris police chief Laurent Nunez said the assailant ‘’pulled out a knife and threatened them (the officers), tried to stab them multiple times and succeeded in stabbing.’’
He defended the police response as “totally proportionate. They were facing a an assailant who was threatening their lives.”
The condition of the officer wasn’t immediately known.
Darmanin said the attacker was ‘’neutralized.’’ An official with knowledge of the police case said the assailant was still alive and that officers prevented him from taking further action. The official spoke on condition of anonymity because he wasn’t allowed to disclose details about the case.
The area was thronging with tourists and Parisians when the attack happened around the corner from the Louis Vuitton boutique. Some took photos as police cordoned off the area, while others continued their dining in nearby sidewalk cafes.
Associated Press journalists saw police reinforcements rushing in after the stabbing. At a luxury hotel nearby, guests arriving in a taxi had to pass under police tape to enter their hotel, as a porter wheeled their baggage under the cordon.
Thursday’s knife attack comes just days after a man stabbed and wounded a French soldier patrolling Paris on Monday outside the Gare de l’Est train station in eastern Paris. The man was taken to a psychiatric hospital, according to French prosecutors.
France is under its highest security alert before the start of the Paris Games on July 26. Paris police imposed strict new security measures in the center of town starting Thursday to prepare for the exceptional opening ceremony, which will be held in the open all along the Seine River instead of in a closed stadium.
Darmanin is staying on in a caretaker role at the interior ministry until a new government is formed in the wake of a legislative election earlier this month.
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David Goldman and Kwiyeon Ha contributed to this report.