4 cops stabbed in Paris police HQ

Paris, Oct. 3: A man wielding a knife stabbed and killed four officers at the police headquarters in the heart of Paris on Thursday, before being shot dead.

The premises were cordoned off after the lunch time attack in the historic centre of Paris, usually buzzing with tourists and dozens of police and emergency vehicles had converged at the scene. At least one metro station near the building, which is close to Notre-Dame cathedral and other tourist attractions, was closed.

Sources said the attacker was shot dead by police in the courtyard of the building, where he was employed.

The man worked in an administrative capacity but it was not immediately clear what his precise work role was. An emergency message was broadcast over loudspeakers at the courthouse next door, announcing an attack at the police headquarters and stating the area was “under surveillance.” Interior minister Christophe Castaner, who was due to visit Turkey later on Thursday, postponed his trip to visit the scene of the attack.

“People were running everywhere, there was crying everywhere,” said Emery Siamandi, an interpreter who was in the building when the attack happened.

“I heard a shot, I gathered it was inside,” he told AFP. “Moments later, I saw police officers crying. They were in a panic.” Investigators suspect a workplace dispute sparked the deadliest attack on the police in France in years, sources said, but there were no immediate further details.

THE ATTACKER was shot dead by the police in the courtyard of the building where he was employed

INVESTIGATORS suspect a workplace dispute sparked the attack