Police attacked with hammer outside Notre Dame
‘This is for Syria,’ assailant screams
PARIS — An assailant wielding a hammer attacked Paris police guarding Notre Dame Cathedral on 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. 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.
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. The attacker’s condition was being evaluated.
“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 Île de Cité island in the Seine River, where the celebrated cathedral is located.
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, 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 U.S. ambassador to the United Nations, Nancy Soderberg. She was admiring the church’s stained glass windows when a French announcement urged those inside to stay calm as police dealt with an incident outside.
The visitors got nervous when they were told soon after that the doors were closing and everyone had to stay inside, Soderberg told The Associated Press from inside Notre Dame.
“It was really scary. We had no idea if there were any accomplices inside,” she said.
They were being released Tuesday evening one by one after careful police searches.