Six Persons Stabbed At A Train Station In Paris
Off-duty officers in plain clothes intervened and used their service weapons to stop the attack.
At least six people were injured after an attacker stabbed them at a train station in Paris, France.
According to AFP, the incident occurred on Wednesday at Paris’s busy Gare du Nord station.
The suspect was later shot and apprehended by police, according to authorities.
The Gare du Nord is a crowded commuter station that also serves as a departure point for trains to northern France, London, and northern Europe.
According to a source close to the investigation, police were treating the stabbings as attempted murder rather than a terrorist attack.
The attacker’s motivation was unclear at the time.
According to prosecutors, one of the six people was seriously injured in the attack at 6:42 a.m. (0542 GMT), while the other five received minor injuries.
Interior Minister Gerald Darmanin told reporters on the scene that the entire incident was over in two minutes.
The type of weapon used by the attacker was not immediately clear.
Initially, police described it as a bladed weapon. Darmanin later stated that it was a “threatening weapon” rather than a knife.
According to Le Parisien, it is thought to be a sharp-pointed tool, similar to an awl.
After three rounds were fired, the attacker was hit in the chest. Darmanin stated that he was taken to the hospital and was fighting for his life.
He claimed that the officers who intervened were off-duty officers in plain clothes who used their service weapons to stop the attack.
The officers “were returning from duty at police headquarters to take their train and go home,” Darmanin explained.
He stated that they were authorized to use their weapons while not on duty.
One border police officer stationed at the station was lightly injured.
“A person injured several people this morning at the Gare du Nord,” Darmanin had earlier tweeted.
“He was quickly rendered ineffective. Thank you to the police for their effective and courageous response”.
Trains were delayed at the station in the early morning rush as police cordoned off the area and erected large white curtains around the attack scene.
However, no services were canceled, according to a spokesman for rail operator SNCF.
With 700,000 passengers per day, the Gare du Nord is one of the world’s busiest train stations.
Eurostar and Thalys services to the UK, Belgium, the Netherlands, and Germany depart from here.
France remains on high alert following a series of deadly attacks by Islamist radicals and others since 2015.
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