Paris police say bloodbath WAS a terrorist attack

[Anthea]

Paris police attack:
Four killed by knife-wielding man

A knife-wielding man has killed four officers at central police headquarters in Paris

The attacker, who has not been named but is said to be a member of staff, was later shot dead by police.

There has been no official statement so far. The area in the île de la Cité - in the centre of Paris - has been sealed off.

The attack comes a day after police went on strike across France over increasing violence towards officers.

It happened at about 13:00 local time (11:00 GMT; 12:00 BST) in the courtyard of the building.

French Prime Minister Edouard Philippe and Interior Minister Christophe Castaner are both at the scene.

Paris mayor Anne Hidalgo confirmed on Twitter that "several people" had been killed in the attack, which took place near major tourist sites including the Notre-Dame cathedral.

Another person was also reportedly wounded.

According to police union officials, the attacker worked in an administrative capacity inside the police headquarters.

https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/49921145

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MUST BE A BAN ON ALL CERAMIC KNIVES

Knifeman attacks police
officers in Paris police station

Two policewomen are among four officers killed in knife rampage by civilian worker inside Paris police headquarters before attacker is shot dead

Four officers and the attacker have died in the attack, reports said
The attack took place in the historic centre of the city near Notre Dame
Premises were cordoned off at lunchtime and emergency services are at scene
The metro station of Cité, near the police headquarters, has been shut down

The attacker, believed to be a civilian police worker, was also shot dead after murdering his colleagues with a ceramic knife.

Two of the dead are policewomen, according to French media, and at least one other officer has been injured.

Investigators suspect the knife rampage, which is France's deadliest attack on police in years, was caused by a workplace row.

According to reports, the attack unfolded in a part of the building which was not open to the public.

However, the attacker apparently smuggled in a [b]ceramic knife[/b] which was not picked up by metal detectors.

Seems as though it was planned in advance

French police secure the area in front of the Paris Police headquarters in Paris after a knife attack

The attack took place at the Paris police headquarters in the historic centre of the city by the Notre Dame

Union official Yves Lefebvre said the attack happened around 1pm at the headquarters, located just across the street from Notre Dame Cathedral.

The attack appeared to have begun in an office and spread elsewhere, he said.

The knifeman worked at the police building in an administrative role, and a union official told Actu 17 that he had been working there for nearly 20 years.

The motives of the attack are not yet known, but investigators suspect that a workplace row was behind it.

Le Parisien said there were five casualties including the attacker who was shot dead in the courtyard.

The area around the police headquarters was sealed off and the nearest metro station was shut for security reasons, the transport authority said.

Police union official Loic Travers earlier told French TV station BFM TV that the officers had died in a 'knife attack'.

'Another colleague is in a state of shock (...) and the person behind the attack has been shot by another colleague,' he said.

French Interior Minister Christophe Castaner is heading to the scene, French media reported.

The premises were cordoned off around lunchtime, and emergency services were quickly at the scene

French police and security forces establish a security perimeter near the police headquarters

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Paris police say bloodbath
WAS a terrorist attack

The French civilian police worker who murdered four colleagues with a knife has been linked to a radical Islamist terrorist organisation

Michael Harpon, 45, was shot dead following the rampage inside the historic Paris Police Prefecture, next door to Notre Dame Cathedral, on Thursday afternoon.

His wife, Iham, was arrested soon afterwards and told detectives that Harpon had 'heard voices' and was 'incoherent and suffered a dementia attack' the night before.

The Paris knifeman who killed in the courtyard of police headquarters after killing four officers with a ceramic knife yesterday has been linked to a radical Islamist terrorist organisation

Now, following a raid on the couple's flat in the Paris suburb on Gonesse, anti-terrorist prosecutors in the French capital have opened an enquiry for 'assassination of a public servant in relation to a terrorist enterprise, attempted assassination of a public servant in relation to a terrorist enterprise, and conspiracy in terrorism'.

Computer records and telephone intercepts have linked Harpon to a 'radical Islamist group' such as ISIS of Al-Qaeda, said a source close to the case.

Iham Harpon remains in custody, and is also believed to have offered evidence against her husband.

In the heart of Paris: Police cordon off a road near the site of the massacre, with Notre Dame cathedral - currently closed after the fire in April - seen in the background

High security: Armed personnel block a bridge over the River Seine near the police compound where three men and one woman were killed yesterday

The couple were both registered as profoundly deaf, and have two children aged nine and three.

Iham is now communicating with officers through sign language, making her interview 'very complicated,' said the source.

Harpon, who originally came from the French overseas territory of Martinique, stabbed a senior officer and three guardians of the peace to death.

They have been identified as General Damien E., 50, Brice L., 38, Anthony L., also 38, and Aurelia T., 39.

The attack took place at the Paris police headquarters in the historic centre of the city, near the fire-ravaged Notre Dame cathedral

Comfort: People console each other on their way out of Paris police headquarters after the force's worst loss of life in a single day since World War II

Investigators now believe there was a terrorist motivation for the slaughter, which caused the worst loss of French police lives in a single day since World War II.

Harpon had converted to Islam 18 months ago, and his wife is also a Muslim who comes from an Arab background.

The nature of the attack corresponded with similar ones carried out by terrorists affiliated to ISIS and Al-Qaeda.

It is thought that the knifeman shouted 'Allahu Akbar' at his flat the night before he slaughtered four of his colleagues, according to a policeman who lived in the same building as Harpon.

'Many of those involved in similar attacks on the police have been Muslim converts influenced by radical terrorist groups,' said the source.

Colleagues described Harpon as a previously trusted employee who had full security clearance to work in the Prefecture's IT department.

The security crisis led to President Emmanuel Macron visiting the building in person, along with his Prime Minister, Edouard Philippe, and Interior Minister Christophe Castaner.

Harpon's ceramic knife would not have activated metal detectors, and he would not have been searched, they head.

Serious concerns have been expressed this year about the psychological frailty of police staff in France.

Police are today examining whether Harpon, described as a 'very quiet person' by neighbours, held a grudge against his colleagues

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