Hit by several bullets, the man was transported to hospital. His state of health is “very serious”, specified Laurent Nuñez during a brief speech from Var where he is traveling.
The Minister of the Interior added that “at this stage” we “do not (know) the reason” for the attack.
The music policeman was very slightly injured by the knife, according to a police source.
– Obligation to clock in –
The attacker, domiciled in Aulnay-sous-Bois, in Seine-Saint-Denis, is subject, according to a source close to the case, to an “individual administrative control and surveillance measure” (Micas) which requires him to report to the police station every day.
The National Anti-Terrorism Prosecutor’s Office (Pnat) immediately announced that it would take charge of the facts. In a press release, he specified that he had opened an open investigation, adding that a public prosecutor was going to the scene.
The investigation was entrusted to the anti-terrorism section of the criminal brigade of the Paris judicial police, a source close to the investigation told AFP.
A few CRS trucks, flashing lights, were parked on the Place de l’Etoile and blocking access to the tomb of the unknown soldier, noted an AFP journalist, while the surrounding bus stops were not served and the metro stations were closed.
However, at the start of the evening, around 8:00 p.m., traffic had resumed at Place de l’Etoile, but the security forces were still present in large numbers. A few streets around the square were nevertheless closed by tape, noted an AFP journalist.
Tourists under umbrellas filmed the monument without knowing what had happened there an hour before.
“We come from Poland, we are used to this kind of thing. It’s serious of course, but there is only one man involved (…). We will still continue our visit and enjoy Paris,” Bartek Kowalski, who has just arrived in the capital with his partner, told AFP.
Another family is dismayed upon hearing the news. “It’s shocking and once again it shows insecurity, it’s heartbreaking, worrying and distressing,” reacts to AFP Franck Ramos, 51, who came from the Bayonne region with his family to Paris.
