Second Attack on Paris Security Forces Days Before Olympics
19th July 2024
A Paris police officer was attacked and stabbed by a 27-year-old foreigner on Champs-Elysées on Thursday, mere days before the start of the Paris Olympics. The attacker was shot by another officer, and died from the injuries from that gunshot wound. This knife attack comes just days after a man stabbed and wounded a French soldier patrolling Paris on Monday outside the Gare de l’Est train station in eastern Paris.
Paris police were responding to a call from security personnel at the flagship Louis Vuitton store on one of the city’s most famous promenades, according to a post on X by French Interior Minister Gerald Darmanin. The security officers had noticed a man exhibiting “suspicious behavior” outside the store and called the police, according to a police official. The man then attacked one of the officers with a knife.
Paris police chief Laurent Nuñez said the attack did not appear linked to the Olympics and no terrorist motive was suspected. Nevertheless, it comes just days before the world’s premier sporting event starts in the French capital—and hot on the heels of another attack on police.