Paris attack: ‘Two female cops’ among 4 killed in blood-soaked knife rampage
PARIS: Two female cops were among four people killed by a knife-wielding colleague at a Paris police station today in a “moment of madness”, according to reports.
The assailant is said to have entered the police headquarters in the French capital with a ceramic knife before launching into his bloody rampage.
He stabbed multiple people before being shot dead by officers – and four victims are now confirmed to have died from their wounds.
Two of the dead victims were female cops, according to Actu17.
And a fifth victim – also a woman – was rushed to hospital seriously wounded.
There was no official word on the motive for the attack, but police union leader Jean-Marc Bailleul said it wasn’t terror, telling BFM TV: “It was a moment of madness.”
A source earlier said: “[The knifeman] was involved in an argument with someone and then erupted in anger, targeting other police colleagues before being neutralised.
“The attacker is believed to have been an administrative officer working in a secure part of the building – making it very easy for him to walk around freely. He would have had security clearance.”
The attack happened in Paris’s historic police headquarters at around 1pm, in the very centre of the city, next to Notre Dame Cathedral.
The police were in a panic, they were running everywhere”Witness
The assailant was armed with a ceramic knife that could not be picked up by metal detectors used by the building’s security, according to sources quoted by one local website.
One witness described the panic after gunshots rang out when the attacker was killed.
He told Le Parisien: “I heard a shot, I think it was around 12.30.
“Around me, there were only policemen. They immediately unsheathed their weapons.”
He added: “Then a few moments later I saw policewomen in tears. I thought it must be serious.
“The police were in a panic, they were running everywhere. Many people were crying. “
The attack appears to have started in an office before the attacker rampaged through the large police compound, police union official Loic Travers said.
He charged down the stairs stabbing more officers before reaching a large courtyard where he was shot dead, according to BFM TV.
Within a few minutes of the bloodbath, the area went into lockdown with streets shut, and scores of armed officers flooding the area.
The dead man is said to have belonged to the Directorate of Intelligence of the Prefecture of Police, or DRPP.
Serious concerns have been expressed this year about the psychological frailty of police staff in France.
A brigadier who shot himself in the head with his own service pistol in front of shocked colleagues has become the 50th French police officer to kill themself last month.
The 45-year-old, who has not been named, died in the police station at Louvroil, close to the Belgium border on September 19.
President Emmanuel Macron had acknowledged that police officers have come under increasing pressure because of growing security threats.
These include weekly demonstrations by the anti-government Gilets Jaunes – or Yellow Vests – movement, which frequently deteriorates into riots.- AFP
