Police open fire after knife attack at Paris Gare du Nord
Police opened fire at Paris Gare du Nord station on Wednesday morning after a man injured six people with a knife. Police say they are not treating the attack as terrorism.
The knife attack happened at around 6.45 on Wednesday morning, injuring several people before police opened fire and subdued the man.
French media reported that six victims were treated by emergency services on site, one person was seriously hurt, the other five had less severe injuries.
The attacker has been taken to hospital after sustaining chest injuries and is described as fighting for his life.
Police were treating the stabbings as a criminal act, not a terrorist attack, a source close to the case said, although the attacker's motivation is not yet clear.
Interior minister Gérald Darmanin tweeted: "An individual injured several people this morning at the Gare du Nord. He was quickly neutralised. Thank you to the forces of order for their effective and courageous reaction."
The police who intervened were off-duty officers in plain clothes who used their service weapons to stop the attack, he added.
The police officers "were returning from duty at police headquarters to take their train and go home, but they were armed", Darmanin said.
Darminin also said that he would visit the scene with Paris mayor Anne Hidalgo.
The railway station - a busy commuter hub - was cordoned off after the attack and main line and regional services in and out of the station were heavily disrupted.
🟠 7h52
Intervention des forces de l'ordre à Paris Nord
Le trafic est perturbé au départ et à l'arrivée de Paris Nord. La police aurait ouvert le feu contre une personne menaçante qui aurait blessé des clients en Gare du Nord. 1/2
— TER Hauts-de-France (@TERHDF) January 11, 2023
"Traffic is disrupted at the departure and arrival of Paris Nord. The police have opened fire against a threatening person who would have injured customers in Gare du Nord," reads the Twitter account of TER Hauts-de-France.
By midday services were again running normally and SNCF said that no services had been cancelled and the station "continues to operate normally".
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The knife attack happened at around 6.45 on Wednesday morning, injuring several people before police opened fire and subdued the man.
French media reported that six victims were treated by emergency services on site, one person was seriously hurt, the other five had less severe injuries.
The attacker has been taken to hospital after sustaining chest injuries and is described as fighting for his life.
Police were treating the stabbings as a criminal act, not a terrorist attack, a source close to the case said, although the attacker's motivation is not yet clear.
Interior minister Gérald Darmanin tweeted: "An individual injured several people this morning at the Gare du Nord. He was quickly neutralised. Thank you to the forces of order for their effective and courageous reaction."
The police who intervened were off-duty officers in plain clothes who used their service weapons to stop the attack, he added.
The police officers "were returning from duty at police headquarters to take their train and go home, but they were armed", Darmanin said.
Darminin also said that he would visit the scene with Paris mayor Anne Hidalgo.
The railway station - a busy commuter hub - was cordoned off after the attack and main line and regional services in and out of the station were heavily disrupted.
🟠 7h52
— TER Hauts-de-France (@TERHDF) January 11, 2023
Intervention des forces de l'ordre à Paris Nord
Le trafic est perturbé au départ et à l'arrivée de Paris Nord. La police aurait ouvert le feu contre une personne menaçante qui aurait blessé des clients en Gare du Nord. 1/2
"Traffic is disrupted at the departure and arrival of Paris Nord. The police have opened fire against a threatening person who would have injured customers in Gare du Nord," reads the Twitter account of TER Hauts-de-France.
By midday services were again running normally and SNCF said that no services had been cancelled and the station "continues to operate normally".
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