On Wednesday, a Libyan man in his 20’s stabbed six people at the busy Gare du Nord train station in Paris, before being shot and apprehended by police, according to Associated Press (AP).
The Gare du Nord is a busy commuter hub that also serves as a departure point for trains to northern France, London, and northern Europe.
Police were treating the stabbings as attempted murder, not a terrorist attack.
The attacker’s motive was not immediately clear, but a police source later identified him to AFP as a Libyan national, and subject to an expulsion order.
“He had arrived in France three years ago, and has a criminal record,” the source said on condition of anonymity.
The victims included two men, aged 36 and 41, and three women, aged 40, 47, and 53, who were using the station, the office said. A 46-year-old policeman assigned to the border police at the Gare du Nord was also injured. The 36-year-old man remains hospitalized, prosecutors said.
“The entire incident was over within two minutes,” French Interior Minister Gerald Darmanin told reporters at the scene.
The attacker used a sharp pointed tool in the attack, rather than a knife as initially suggested by police.
“The suspect suddenly began, for no apparent reason at this stage, to strike at the first victim with his weapon,” the Paris public prosecutor’s office said in a statement. The first victim was struck 20 times, it said.
“He sustained serious injuries to the chest and arm after police fired three rounds, leading him to be taken to hospital where he was fighting for his life,” Darmanin said.
Prosecutors said they are “investigating all possible leads.” Investigators “haven’t yet ruled terrorism out as a motive,” they said. The weapon, which has been seized, was a metal hook, according to the Paris Prosecutor’s Office.
France remains in a state of heightened security, after a spate of deadly attacks by Islamist radicals, and others, since 2015.
