The victim of a knife attack in Paris was a young German tourist. The alleged perpetrator is known as an Islamist and also injured several people.
A young German tourist was killed in a suspected terrorist knife attack in Paris. As French Interior Minister Gérald Darmanin and the public prosecutor announced, the fatality was a German born in the Philippines in 1999.
The perpetrator, who was known as an Islamist and is said to have shouted “Allahu Akbar” (God is great) during the crime, also injured two other people. He was arrested. The knife attack occurred in the evening near the Eiffel Tower in Paris.
The perpetrator attacked a foreign tourist couple, Interior Minister Gérald Darmanin told journalists during a visit to the crime scene. “A German tourist who was born in the Philippines died from the stabs.” His companion remained physically unharmed, but suffered a shock.
The site of the attack was cordoned off extensively.
Several people injured
Darmanin explained that a taxi driver intervened. The attacker then ran over a bridge over the Seine to the other side of the river and attacked other people there. According to the Interior Minister, a Frenchman in his 60s was injured. The attacker also injured a foreign tourist with a hammer. The interior minister did not disclose the nationality of the injured tourist.
An eyewitness who was in a nearby bar during the crime said he heard cries for help and saw people running away. A man “with a hammer in his hand” attacked another man, who then fell. After “five to ten minutes” the police arrived.
The alleged perpetrator is a convicted Islamist
The Frenchman, born in 1997, was knocked out with a Taser and arrested. He is charged with murder and attempted murder. The national anti-terrorism prosecutor’s office took over the investigation.
According to Interior Minister Darmanin, the attacker had a criminal record. The young man was sentenced to four years in prison in 2016 for planning another attack. After his crime, he said he couldn’t stand that Muslims were being killed in “Afghanistan and Palestine.” The Gaza war is leading to increased tensions in France with its large Muslim minority.
Police circles also said that the alleged perpetrator, who was born in France, suffered from psychological problems and was known as a radical Islamist.
Macron expresses condolences to relatives
French President Emmanuel Macron expressed his condolences to the relatives of the German victim on the online service X. Prime Minister Elisabeth Borne declared on X: “We will not give in to terrorism.” At the same time, she praised “the courage and professionalism of our security and rescue forces” in the operation against the attacker. Darmanin also highlighted the “courageous” police intervention on X.