An administrative employee of the police department in Paris is suspected in a knife attack at the city’s police headquarters that has left at least four dead, including 3 police officers, according to authorities.
The suspect in the attack was reportedly shot dead by police on the scene. Though he has not yet been identified, the suspect is said to have been an employee of the police department for at least 20 years and had no prior reports of wrongdoing.
Police union official Loci Travers told Sky News that the attack appears to have started in the office and then moved into other areas of the large headquarters compound. The Paris police headquarters is located across the street from the famed Notre Dame Cathedral, which caught fire and sustained significant damage earlier this year.
“Attack at the Paris police headquarters: the alleged attacker ‘posed no problem’ according to the Alliance Nationale police union,” said French news station BFM in a tweet.
Four police officers have been killed in a knife attack at the police headquarters in #Paris. https://t.co/tsBwT1Wk8q
— Alexander Seale (@AlexSeale) October 3, 2019
UPDATE: Initial reporting indicated that four police officers were killed in the attack. It was later confirmed that the fourth victim was an administrative member of police support staff. The 45-year-old suspect has still not been identified, but local French station BFM TV reports that he had recently converted to Islam and was an administrator in the intelligence unit. Investigators have not revealed a motive for the crime but have thus far ruled out terrorism.
Authorities have not released the names of the victims yet but have confirmed that three men and one woman were killed in the attack.
