UPDATE 2:25 PM EST:
The man who attacked a French officer with a hammer outside of Notre Dame Cathedral on Tuesday has been identified as an Algerian student in his 40s.
He claims to be an "ISIS soldier."
"Paris prosecutors opened a counter-terrorism investigation soon after the attack after the hammer-wielding Algerian said he was an 'ISIS soldier of caliphate', according to a probe source," reports Daily Mail UK.
The attacker's name has not been released.
UPDATE 1:36 PM EST:
The man with the hammer who attacked a French police officer in front of Notre Dame Cathedral in Paris on Tuesday reportedly yelled “This is for Syria” before bashing the officer in the head.
Fox News reports,
“The hammer-wielding man also had two kitchen knives and ‘other unsophisticated weapons’ with him before charging toward officers patrolling the esplanade in front of the cathedral, French Interior Minister Gerard Collomb said. The wounded officer fired at the unnamed suspect twice, injuring the attacker who was later hospitalized, French police confirmed to Fox News. The specific conditions of both men were unclear.”
Paris law enforcement are treating the incident as a terrorist attack. A counterterrorism investigation is currently underway.
ORIGINAL STORY:
A man attacked a police officer with a hammer outside of the Notre Dame Cathedral in Paris, France, on Tuesday.
The man was shot by the officer twice, Fox News reports, now wounded and in custody.
Following the incident, Paris police warned people to avoid the area on Twitter.
Paris police added that "the perpetrator has been neutralized" and is now in the hospital. The French officer is also wounded, though his condition has not been made clear.
The French U.S. embassy also alerted American citizens in Paris to "avoid the area and follow advice of authorities.”
The Notre Dame Cathedral is currently on lockdown. The hundreds of people in the church have been told by local authorities to raise their hands and shelter in place.
The motive of the attacker has not yet been identified.
The attack comes as Europe is on high alert, as London just suffered a second terror attack in the past two weeks that left seven people dead, 48 others injured.
Large numbers of police cars have filled the area on the Ile de Cite island in the River Seine in the center of Paris, according to Fox News and AP.
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