Man goes on stabbing spree at Paris train station, injures six; does not seem terror act, say cops

A man wielding a knife went on a stabbing spree at the busy Gare du Nord station in Paris and injured at least six people on Wednesday, French officials said. The man was soon arrested at the station following a gunfire by the police which wounded the attacker.

"An individual injured several people this morning at the Gare du Nord," Interior Minister Gerald Darmanin wrote on Twitter.

"He was quickly neutralised. Thank you to the police for their effective and courageous response".

The suspect attacked several people, including a police officer, with a ‘bladed weapon’ inthe morning rush hour, Darmanin told reporters at the scene, flanked by Paris Mayor Anne Hidalgo.

Darmanin thanked the police for their swift, effective and courageous reaction."Without the extremely rapid intervention, there would surely be deaths,"he said, adding the attacker was neutralised within one minute of attacking his first victim.

An off-duty police officer immediately acted against the attacker and was the first to do so, Le Parisien daily said.

According to French media reports, the suspect first threw himself upon a man in front of the station, stabbing him 15 times and seriously wounding him. The assailant then entered the station and attacked four civilians and a police officer, said media reports.

Screams alerted two other police officers who intervened while the suspect was attacking the officer. The officer for France's border guard was stabbed in the back but not seriously wounded because of a bulletproof vest, Darmanin said.

The man stabbed outside the station was the only person who sustained serious wounds in the attack, officials said.

Police are treating the stabbings as a criminal act, not a terrorist attack, a source told AFP.

The attacker sustained a life-threatening chest injury following the gunfire by the police, the source said.

Major delays happened following the incident at the station in the early morning rush, according to the live departure board of operator SNCF.Police cordoned off the station and also set up large curtains around the scene.

The Gare du Nord witnesses 700,000 travelers per day and is one of the world's busiest train stations in the world. It is a busy commuter hub and also serves as a departure point for trains to northern France, London and northern Europe.

The motive for the attack isn't clear yet. France has witnessed a spate of deadly attacks by Islamist radicals since 2015 and remains on a state of heightened security alert.In December, a suspected gunman killed three Kurds in the capital city.

(With inputs from agencies)

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