Man Attacks Police Officer at Notre-Dame Cathedral in Paris

A man wielding a hammer and knives has attacked a police officer outside Paris’s Notre-Dame Cathedral.

The police officer was not killed in the attack and his condition is said to be stable, but the attack caused heightened concern in the wake of increasing terror attacks in Europe.

The attacker was shot by another police officer and was taken to the hospital, according to CNN.com.

The assailant is thought to be an Algerian student and witnesses said he said, “This is for Syria” before he attacked the officer.

France is still under high alert since a terrorist attack was carried out in Paris in November 2015, which killed 130. Another recent attack occurred at the Champs-Elysees in Paris in April. A police officer was killed in that attack. Nice, France was also the target of a terrorist attack when the perpetrator drove a vehicle into a crowd celebrating Bastille day in July 2016.

Other attacks have occurred in Brussels, Belgium and Manchester in the UK, and, most recently, in London. The UK is also on high alert for terrorist threats.

While police worked to get the situation outside the Cathedral under control, dozens of people were trapped inside. Notre-Dame Cathedral is an extremely popular tourist location.

"Everyone started fleeing from the cathedral, and police surrounded almost immediately. It looked as though they had surrounded someone at the stairs down to the Seine (River)," said a woman who witnessed the incident unfold. "There was a large crowd in line to go into the cathedral, and when the shots fired, they all started running."

Photo courtesy: Pixabay

Publication date: June 5, 2017