French soldiers thwart machete attack at Louvre
PARIS - Paris was plunged into panic — again — when soldiers guarding the Louvre Museum shot an attacker who lunged at them with two machetes on Friday and shouted “Allahu Akbar!” as the historic landmark went into lockdown.
The threat appeared to quickly recede after the assailant was subdued, but it cast a new shadow over the city just as tourism was beginning to rebound after a string of deadly attacks. Coming just hours before Paris finalized its bid for the 2024 Olympics, it also renewed questions about security in the City of Light.
The soldiers’ quick action put an end to what French President Francois Hollande said was “no doubt” a terrorist attack at one of Paris’ most iconic tourist attractions.
French prosecutor Francois Molins said the assailant was believed to be a 29-year-old Egyptian who had been living in the United Arab Emirates, though his identity has not yet been formally confirmed.
“Everything shows that the assailant was very determined,” Molins told a news conference, adding that the attacker, who was shot four times, was in a lifethreatening condition in a hospital.
Molins said the attacker was not carrying any identity papers but investigators used his cellphone and a national database of visa applicants containing their photos and fingerprints to determine that he was a resident of the United Arab Emirates who arrived in Paris on a tourist visa on Jan. 26.
Two days later the suspect bought two military machetes at a gun store in Paris, the prosecutor said. He also paid 1,700 euros for a oneweek stay at an apartment in the chic 8th arrondissement of the French capital, near the Champs-Elysees.
In the apartment, police found an Egyptian passport and 965 euros, as well as a residence permit, driver’s license and a credit card all issued from the UAE, Molins said. He said the suspect’s return flight to Dubai was scheduled for Sunday.
Friday’s attack targeted an entrance to a shopping mall that extends beneath the sprawling Louvre, a medieval former royal palace now home to the “Mona Lisa” and hundreds of other masterpieces.
Waving two machetes over his head, the assailant lunged at the soldiers patrolling in the mall, shouting “Allahu Akbar!” or “God is great!” Molins said.
One soldier fought him off and was slightly injured in the scalp. Another soldier fell to the ground as the assailant tried to slash him, then opened fire, shooting the attacker in the stomach. When that didn’t stop him, the soldier fired three more times, gravely wounding him. The backpack the man was carrying contained cans of spray paint but no explosives, Molins said.
Lance Manus, a tourist from Albany, N.Y., described young girls crying in panic, and had immediate thoughts of the Sept. 11, 2001, attacks in the United States.
“That’s what we’re used to now,” he said. “I mean we have to learn to live with it, be vigilant. So we listen to instructions from the security guards and do what they told us.”