Armed police swooped on the Louvre after a soldier reportedly opened fire on a knifeman with a suitcase IMAGE: GETTY IMAGES
French soldier opened fire after a suspicious man with a knife had tried to enter the Louvre museum in Paris, France, according to media reports. The man was carrying out a suitcase (no explosives have been found so far).
The French Interior Ministry said that there had been a “grave public security incident” in the vicinity of the Louvre museum.
According to Reuters, the attacker cried out “Allahu Akbar” and tried to assault the soldier with a knife.
“We are dealing with an attack from an individual who was clearly aggressive and represented a direct threat, and whose comments lead us to believe that he wished to carry out a terrorist incident,” the head of Paris’ police force, Michel Cadot, told media.
Cadot added that a second person has been detained, following suspicious behavior.
Tourists told to sit on ground in locked halls inside the #Louvre pic.twitter.com/Ux1PTh4gbs
— Wang Feng (@ulywang) February 3, 2017
Something is going down at The #Louvre 30 National Police vehicles with guns drawn pic.twitter.com/kpLTCtVdZN — VoiceB0xx (@voiceb0xx) February 3, 2017
Les services de secours arrivent au Louvre pic.twitter.com/ULFZ8NqK3S
— Jonathan RT France (@Jonathan_RTfr) February 3, 2017
Main #Louvre courtyard cordoned off after “serious incident” according to Int. ministry, unclear if entire museum evacuated pic.twitter.com/3Kr0ww3jnk — Aurélien Breeden (@aurelienbrd) February 3, 2017
