A Paris police officer was attacked and stabbed by a 27-year-old foreigner on Champs-Elysées on Thursday, mere days before the start of the Paris Olympics. The attacker was shot by another officer, and died from the injuries from that gunshot wound. This 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.
Paris police were responding to a call from security personnel at the flagship Louis Vuitton store on one of the city’s most famous promenades, according to a post on X by French Interior Minister Gerald Darmanin. The security officers had noticed a man exhibiting “suspicious behavior” outside the store and called the police, according to a police official. The man then attacked one of the officers with a knife.
Paris police chief Laurent Nuñez said the attack did not appear linked to the Olympics and no terrorist motive was suspected. Nevertheless, it comes just days before the world’s premier sporting event starts in the French capital—and hot on the heels of another attack on police.
Speaking in front of the Louis Vuitton store after the stabbing, Nuñez said the assailant ‘’pulled out a knife and threatened them (the officers), tried to stab them multiple times and succeeded.’’
The suspect died of his injuries after being shot, the Paris prosecutor’s office said, and it has opened an investigation into an attempted murder of a police officer. The police officer was hospitalized for his wounds but was not in a life-threatening condition.
The attacker is also suspected of having stabbed a teenager to death just hours before the attack on police. The murder took place in Courbevoie, in Hauts-de-Seine, an hour earlier, the Nanterre public prosecutor’s office said.
At the time of the Champs-Elysees attack, the area was thronging with tourists and Parisians.
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, while a porter wheeled their baggage under the cordon.
The Louis Vuitton store is one of the biggest attractions on the Champs-Elysees and often has long lines of people waiting to get in. Louis Vuitton parent company LVMH did not comment on what happened.
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 city center, 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 after the recent legislative election earlier this month.
