Paris: French police detained a man on Monday after he attacked three women with knives near Porte de Clichy, with bystanders and an off-duty police officer stepping in to hold him down, Interior Minister Laurent Nunez said.
The incident left two of the victims badly wounded, while the suspect’s identity and motive were still unclear and the national anti-terror prosecutor’s office was considering whether to open a case.
A video broadcast on Snapchat and verified by Reuters showed a man with long black hair in a cream tracksuit, holding one large knife in each hand as he tried to attack and stab a young woman. It was not clear whether that woman was injured.
“When I saw him stab a woman in the back, I started shouting, ‘Come on, let’s stop him!’ Several people stepped in,” Mohamed-Ali Bouhadjar, 26, who filmed the video and posted it on Snapchat, told Reuters. “One person threw a suitcase at him. He dropped the knives. At that moment, I grabbed him, swept his legs out from under him, and we pinned him to the ground,” he added.
Another segment of the clip shows the same man lying motionless on the ground while bystanders keep him restrained, with the two knives visible nearby on a pedestrian crossing. “It is Allah who commanded me,” the man lying on the floor says.
Nunez said the suspect had been detained by an off-duty police officer. “I pay tribute to him, it was a courageous act,” he added.
The motive for the assault has not yet been established, Nunez said, adding that police were unable to confirm the attacker’s identity because his statements were “incoherent” during the arrest. The French national anti-terrorist prosecutor’s office said it was examining whether to launch an investigation.