fb-pixelMan attacks Paris police with tool at Notre Dame ‘for Syria’ - The Boston Globe Skip to main content

Man attacks Paris police with tool at Notre Dame ‘for Syria’

PARIS — An assailant wielding a hammer attacked Paris police guarding Notre Dame Cathedral Tuesday, crying ‘‘This is for Syria’’ before being shot and wounded by officers outside one of France’s most popular tourist sites.

At least 600 people were blocked inside the iconic 12th- century church while police first secured the streets around it, then combed the pews while visitors sat with their hands raised for the check. Others fled in panic from the sprawling esplanade outside the cathedral.

The assault was the latest act of violence targeting security forces at high-profile sites in France, which remains under a state of emergency after a string of Islamic extremist attacks.

Advertisement



No group immediately claimed responsibility, but police searching a residence linked to the attacker in the Paris suburb of Cergy-Pontoise found a declaration of allegiance to the Islamic State group, according to the Paris prosecutor’s office.

Interior Minister Gerard Collomb told reporters that a police officer in a three-person patrol was lightly wounded in the attack, and the assailant was shot and wounded by a fellow officer.

‘‘A person came up behind the police officers, armed with a hammer, and started to hit the police officer,’’ he said.

The man yelled ‘‘This is for Syria,’’ Collomb said, adding that the attacker appeared to have acted alone.

A hammer and kitchen knives were found on the assailant, as well as a student identity card indicating he was from Algeria, Collomb said. He said authorities were working to verify the card’s authenticity.

‘‘We have passed from a very sophisticated terrorism to a terrorism where any instrument can be used for attacks,’’ the interior minister said.

The head of the Municipal Police Defense Union, Cedric Michel, said the attacker was about 40 years old.

The incident happened around 4:20 p.m. A large number of police cars descended on the Ile de Cite island in the Seine River, where the celebrated cathedral is located.

Advertisement



Authorities told people to stay away from the area and some took refuge inside the cathedral. People inside Notre Dame, the nearby Sainte-Chapelle chapel noted for its stained glass, and area bars and cafes were told to stay inside while the police operation was underway.

Among the several hundred people ordered to remain inside the cathedral was a former US ambassador to the United Nations, Nancy Soderberg. She was admiring the church’s stained glass windows when a French announcement came on urging those inside to stay calm as police dealt with an incident outside.