PARIS TERROR
‘Islamist’ knife-wielder’s deadly rampage
A knife-wielding terrorist killed one person and wounded four others on a tourist-crowded Paris street before police shot him dead Saturday as he shouted “Allah Akbar!’’
Four people were wounded, two of whom were hospitalized in serious condition.
ISIS said one of its “soldiers” carried out the attack near the City of Light’s Opéra Garnier, which is famous for its nightlife, the BBC said.
The ISIS-linked Amaq News Agency said the assailant acted in response to calls for attacks on anti-ISIS coalition countries.
The attacker began stabbing random victims at about 9:30 p.m. Paris time. He attempted to get into several restaurants and bars, but was blocked by people holding the doors shut.
Cops first tried to stop him with a stun gun.
But Police-union representative Rocco Contento told Reuters that the assailant rushed at officers while shouting, “I will kill you! I will kill you!”
The gunman was then shot dead by the officers.
His name was not released as of Saturday night.
A photo seen by Reuters, which a source said was of the attacker, showed a bare-chested and bearded young man dressed in black trousers.
France “will not yield an inch to the enemies of freedom,” Presi- dent Emmanuel Macron said after the attack, praising officers for “neutralizing the terrorist.”
He also tweeted, “France has once again paid in blood, but it will not give up to the enemies of freedom.’’
France’s BFM television interviewed an unidentified witness in a restaurant who said a young woman was at the entrance when “a man arrived and attacked her with a knife.”
A friend came to her aid and the attacker left, “hitting on all the doors, all the shops,” the witness said.
Another witness told LCI television, “We were told to get into a bar quickly. I was curious and went outside again. “I saw a person on the ground about 200 meters from me. The police, fire brigade and ambulance arrived.
“I could not see anything else after that.”
Witness Charles Pellegrin, tweeted, “I came out of a comedy show near Opera . . . and was told to go back in because there was a madman with a knife. Once back inside we heard ... two gunshots. I then spoke to eyewitnesses who told me a man stabbed multiple people at random.’’
In the worst recent terrorist attack on Paris, on Nov. 13, 2015, gunmen and suicide bombers simultaneously stormed a concert hall, stadium and restaurants and bars.
That attack killed 130 people and left hundreds wounded.