Paris police kill man brandishing knife

PARIS — Police shot and killed a man wearing a fake explosive vest who threatened them with a butcher knife Thursday at a Paris police station, a year almost to the minute after two Islamic extremists burst into the offices of the satirical newspaper Charlie Hebdo, killing 11 people and unleashing a bloody 12 months in the French capital.

The Paris prosecutor’s anti-terrorism unit opened an investigation after police found on the man’s body a cellphone, a piece of paper with an ISIL emblem and an “unequivocal written claim of responsibility in Arabic,” the prosecutor’s office said. It did not provide details about the claim.

France has been under a state of emergency since a series of attacks claimed by ISIL killed 130 people in Paris on Nov. 13, and tensions increased this week as the anniversary of the January attacks approached. Soldiers were posted in front of schools and security forces were present amid a series of tributes to the dead.

Officials said the man shot to death Thursday threatened officers at the entrance of a police station near the Montmartre neighbourhood, home to the Sacre Coeur Cathedral. Moments before, French President Francois Hollande, speaking at a different location, paid respects to officers fallen in the line of duty.

The man at the police station is believed to have cried out “Allahu akbar,” Arabic for “God is great.” He has not been identified.

Alexis Mukenge, who saw the shooting from inside another building, said police told the man, “Stop. Move back.” Mukenge said officers fired twice and the man dropped to the ground.

Hollande had said earlier a “terrorist threat” would continue to weigh on France. The government has announced new measures extending police powers to allow officers to use their weapons to “neutralize someone who has just committed one or several murders and is likely to repeat these crimes.”