LONDON and PARIS — A man who injured at least six people in an attack at Paris’ Gare du Nord station early Wednesday was shot by police and hospitalized, authorities said.
Interior Minister Gerald Darmanin said Twitter that “an individual injured several people this morning at the Gare du Nord. He was quickly neutralized. Thanks to the police for their effective and courageous response.”
French police secure the area after a knife-wielding man injured several people at the Gare du Nord train station in Paris, France, on January 11, 2023.
Benoit Tessier/Reuters
The alleged attacker is alive and has been hospitalized, authorities said. The six injured people were also taken to hospital, Darmanin told a news conference at the station, where he was flanked by armed police officers. One officer was injured during the attack, he said.
The attack began around 6:42 a.m. local time, and police responded within a minute, Darmanin said. The suspect, who did not appear to say anything before the attack, was shot three times by police, the minister told reporters.
“The suspect suddenly began, for no apparent reason at this stage, to hit a first victim with his weapon,” the Paris prosecutor’s office said in a statement. The first victim was hit 20 times, he said.
The victims included two men, ages 36 and 41, and three women, ages 40, 47 and 53, who were using the station, the office said. A 46-year-old policeman assigned to the Gare du Nord border police was also injured. The 36-year-old man remains hospitalized, according to the prosecutor’s office.
French Interior Minister Gerald Darmanin (C) speaks to the press alongside Junior Transport Minister Clement Beaune (L), Paris Mayor Anne Hidalgo (4th L) and Paris Police Prefect Laurent Nunez ( 2nL) at the Gare du Nord train station in Paris. January 11, 2023.
Julien De Rosa/AFP via Getty Images
Prosecutors said they are investigating all possible leads. Investigators have not yet ruled out terrorism as a motive, they said. The weapon, which has been seized, was a metal hook, according to the Paris Prosecutor’s Office.
“I confirm that an investigation has been opened by the Paris prosecutor’s office,” the Paris prosecutor’s office said in a statement obtained by ABC News. “The investigations were entrusted to the judicial police. The provisional assessment is that 6 people were injured, including one in an absolute emergency. The suspect was hospitalized after being shot several times by the police.”
The suspect is believed to be a man in his 20s born in Libya or Algeria, the prosecutor’s office said.
A police car parks in front of the Gare du Nord train station, Wednesday, Jan. 11, 2023, in Paris, France.
Michel Euler/AP
Paris Gare du Nord is one of the largest and busiest train stations in Europe. It serves the northern suburbs of Paris and is a terminus on the Channel Tunnel route from London to Paris.
ABC News’ Joe Simonetti contributed to this report.
