stabbing attack – www.israelhayom.com https://www.israelhayom.com israelhayom english website Wed, 05 Jun 2024 13:11:11 +0000 en-US hourly 1 https://wordpress.org/?v=6.4.2 https://www.israelhayom.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/11/cropped-G_rTskDu_400x400-32x32.jpg stabbing attack – www.israelhayom.com https://www.israelhayom.com 32 32 German politician stabbed in Mannheim, 2nd time in less than a week https://www.israelhayom.com/2024/06/05/german-politician-stabbed-in-mannheim-2nd-time-in-less-than-a-week/ https://www.israelhayom.com/2024/06/05/german-politician-stabbed-in-mannheim-2nd-time-in-less-than-a-week/#respond Tue, 04 Jun 2024 21:01:38 +0000 https://www.israelhayom.com/?p=960653   A member of a German far-right party was stabbed and wounded in the southwestern city of Mannheim, German news agency BLID reported Wednesday, only days after a knife attack killed one police officer and left five other people injured in the same city. The stabbing happened late Tuesday, reportedly near the same market square […]

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A member of a German far-right party was stabbed and wounded in the southwestern city of Mannheim, German news agency BLID reported Wednesday, only days after a knife attack killed one police officer and left five other people injured in the same city.

The stabbing happened late Tuesday, reportedly near the same market square where the earlier attack took place on Friday.

A candidate with the far-right Alternative for Germany, or AfD, reportedly caught somebody trying to tear down an election poster. When he confronted that person, he was attacked with a knife. The AfD politician, who was campaigning for local elections on Sunday, is still in a hospital with non-life-threatening cuts.

The AfD labeled the attack as an act of left-wing extremism. Markus Frohnmaier, the AfD state chairman, expressed shock and dismay over the incident.

On Friday, a 25-year-old Afghan man stabbed several members of a group that describes itself as opposing "political Islam." The group, Pax Europa, describes itself as an organization that informs the public about the dangers posed by the "increasing spread and influence of political Islam."

Michael Stürzenberger, an anti-Islamist activist who is one of the group's leading figures and has spoken at its events, was among those wounded. Another four members of the Pax Europa group were injured along with a police officer who tried to stop the attack. The 29-year-old officer died of his injuries on Sunday. The attacker is still in the hospital.

Germany said Tuesday it was considering allowing deportations to Afghanistan after an asylum seeker from the country killed a police officer and wounded five others in a knife attack. Deportations to Afghanistan have been stopped since the Taliban retook power in 2021.

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PM mourns UK lawmaker killed in terrorist attack as 'friend of Israel' https://www.israelhayom.com/2021/10/17/pm-mourns-uk-lawmaker-killed-in-terrorist-attack-as-friend-of-israel/ https://www.israelhayom.com/2021/10/17/pm-mourns-uk-lawmaker-killed-in-terrorist-attack-as-friend-of-israel/#respond Sun, 17 Oct 2021 05:27:22 +0000 https://www.israelhayom.com/?p=702351   A long-serving member of Britain's parliament was stabbed to death during a meeting with constituents Friday, in what police said was a terrorist incident. A 25-year-old man was arrested in connection with the attack, which united Britain's fractious politicians in shock and sorrow. Follow Israel Hayom on Facebook and Twitter Counterterrorism officers were leading […]

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A long-serving member of Britain's parliament was stabbed to death during a meeting with constituents Friday, in what police said was a terrorist incident. A 25-year-old man was arrested in connection with the attack, which united Britain's fractious politicians in shock and sorrow.

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Counterterrorism officers were leading the investigation into the slaying of Conservative lawmaker David Amess. In a statement early Saturday, the Metropolitan Police described the attack as terrorism and said the early investigation "has revealed a potential motivation linked to Islamist extremism."

Amess, 69, was attacked around midday Friday at a Methodist church in Leigh-on-Sea, a town about 40 miles (62 kilometers) east of London. Paramedics tried without success to save him. Police arrested the suspect and recovered a knife.

They did not identify the suspect, who was held on suspicion of murder. Police said they believed the suspect acted alone and were not seeking anyone else in connection with the killing, though investigations continue.

The slaying came five years after another MP, Jo Cox, was murdered by a far-right extremist in her small-town constituency, and it renewed concern about the risks politicians run as they go about their work representing voters. British politicians generally are not given police protection when they meet with their constituents.

Tributes poured in for the UK lawmaker from around the world, including Israel.

On Twitter, Prime Minister Naftali Bennett sent his "heartfelt condolences to the family and loves ones of the British MP Sir David Amess. He was a true friend of the Jewish community and the State of Israel.

"His tragic loss will be felt by many."

Foreign Minister and Prime Minister-designate Yair Lapid said: "From Israel, we send our deepest condolences to the family, friends, and colleagues of Sir David Amess. He always stood with the Jewish community and was a true friend of Israel. May his memory be a blessing."

Residents of the community he had served for decades paid tribute to him at a vigil at a church in Leigh-on-Sea.

"He carried that great East London spirit of having no fear and being able to talk to people and the level they're at," the Rev. Jeffrey Woolnaugh said at the vigil, attended by about 80 people. "Not all politicians, I would say, are good at that."

Conservative Prime Minister Boris Johnson said he and his Cabinet were "deeply shocked and heart-stricken."

"David was a man who believed passionately in this country and in its future, and we've lost today a fine public servant and a much-loved friend and colleague," Johnson said.

The prime minister would not say whether the attack meant politicians needed tighter security, saying, "We must really leave the police to get on with their investigation."

Amess had been a member of parliament for Southend West, which includes Leigh-on-Sea, since 1997, and had been a lawmaker since 1983, making him one of the longest-serving politicians in the House of Commons.

A social conservative on the right of his party, he was a well-liked figure with a reputation for working hard for his constituents and campaigning ceaselessly to have Southend declared a city.

Amess, who leaves a wife and five children, was knighted by Queen Elizabeth II in 2015 for his service, becoming Sir David.

Flags at Parliament were lowered to half-staff amid a profusion of questions about lawmakers' security.

British Prime Minister Boris Johnson, right, and Labour Party chief Keir Starmer arrive at the scene where David Amess was stabbed in Leigh-on-Sea, Essex, England, Oct. 16, 2021 (Alberto Pezzali)

"This is an incident that will send shockwaves across the parliamentary community and the whole country," House of Commons Speaker Lindsay Hoyle said. "In the coming days we will need to discuss and examine MPs' security and any measures to be taken, but for now, our thoughts and prayers are with David's family, friends, and colleagues."

In 2016, a week before the country's divisive Brexit referendum, Cox, a Labour Party lawmaker, was fatally stabbed and shot in northern England. Also, several people have been jailed in recent years for threatening lawmakers.

British lawmakers are protected by armed police when they are inside parliament, and security there was tightened after an attacker inspired by the Islamic State group fatally stabbed a police officer at the gates in 2017.

But politicians have no such protection in their constituencies. Amess published the times and locations of his open meetings with constituents on his website.

Two other British lawmakers have been attacked over the past two decades during their "surgeries," regular meetings where constituents can present concerns and complaints.

Labour legislator Stephen Timms was stabbed in the stomach in 2010 by a student radicalized by online sermons from an al-Qaida-linked preacher.

In 2000, Liberal Democrat Nigel Jones and his aide Andrew Pennington were attacked by a man wielding a sword during such a meeting. Pennington was killed and Jones wounded in the attack in Cheltenham, England.

Former Prime Minister Theresa May, a Conservative, tweeted that Amess' killing was a "tragic day for our democracy," and former Labour Prime Minister Tony Blair said he was "shocked and horrified."

Scottish First Minister Nicola Sturgeon of the Scottish National Party said on Twitter: "In a democracy, politicians must be accessible and open to scrutiny, but no one deserves to have their life taken while working for and representing their constituents."

Kim Leadbeater, Jo Cox's sister and now a member of Parliament herself said it was "horrific" that Amess' family was experiencing what hers had gone through.

"They will think about this every single day for the rest of their lives," she said.

"I find myself now working as a politician and trying to do good things for people, and it's really important you get good people in public life, but this is the risk we are all taking, and so many MPs will be scared by this."

David Amess was a man of the people, a hard-working British lawmaker who had no grand political ambitions beyond serving those who had elected him for nigh-on 40 years.

His shocking death at the hands of a knife-wielding man at a church where he was meeting voters has reopened questions about the security needs of Britain's members of Parliament as they go about their daily work.

Police, who have said it was a terrorist-related attack, continued Saturday to question a 25-year-old British man.

For the second time in five years, Britain's political leaders put their differences aside to gather Saturday morning at the scene of a fallen colleague. British Prime Minister Boris Johnson and Keir Starmer, leader of the opposition Labour Party, stood side-by-side and laid flowers as they paid tribute to the long-serving lawmaker, who was stabbed to death less than 24 hours earlier.

The slaying of the 69-year-old Conservative lawmaker at a regular meeting with local voters has caused shock and anxiety across Britain's political spectrum, not least because it is reminiscent of the 2016 murder of Labour lawmaker Jo Cox by a far-right extremist in her own small-town constituency.

"He was killed doing a job that he loves, serving his own constituents as an elected democratic member and, of course, acts of this are absolutely wrong, and we cannot let that get in the way of our functioning democracy," British Home Secretary Priti Patel said after paying her respects to Amess at the church where he died.

Patel said she has convened meetings with the speaker of the House of Commons, police, and UK security services to ensure "all measures are being put in place for the security of MPs so that they can carry on with their duties as elected democratic members."

Tobias Ellwood, a Conservative lawmaker who gave first aid to a police officer stabbed at the gates of Parliament in 2017, said face-to-face meetings with voters should be temporarily halted, as they were during the recent coronavirus lockdowns, and replaced with online interactions.

Amess suffered multiple stab wounds in the attack during his constituency meeting in the church in Leigh-on-Sea, a quintessentially English seaside town 40 miles (62 kilometers) east of London, which has become a magnet in recent years to those tired of life in the capital.

The Metropolitan Police said its early investigation "revealed a potential motivation linked to Islamist extremism," without providing any details about the basis for that assessment. As part of the investigation, officers were searching two locations in the London area.

Amess, who had a wife and five children and was knighted by Queen Elizabeth II in 2015, died doing what he'd done countless times – listening to the concerns of residents in his seaside constituency of Southend West, which incorporates Leigh-on-Sea.

Under Britain's parliamentary system, lawmakers have direct links with their local voters, often hosting open meetings, or "surgeries." The meetings often take place in local churches and community halls and are publicly advertised. Amess himself posted online where he would be hosting his surgery on Friday.

"The reason he wanted to use the church was because he wanted to be where the people were," said Rev. Clifford Newman at the Belfairs Methodist Church where Amess was killed. "And if you come to somewhere which is in the locality like Belfairs, as opposed to some ivory tower somewhere, people are more likely to feel easier, freer, and more likely to open up to him."

"I feel as if I have lost a family member. I feel that he was the family of Southend, he was the leader of Southend," resident Erica Keane, 69, said. "And he was everywhere! He was at the football pitches, he was in the choirs, he was in the pubs. He was everywhere and he was Southend."

Amess was a popular lawmaker, winning 10 out of 10 elections since 1983. He was a social conservative on issues like capital punishment and abortion, an active supporter of animal rights, and campaigned tirelessly on health matters such as obesity.

While never serving as a government minister, Amess was a fixer, a lawmaker able to forge alliances across the political divide. His door was seemingly always open to any new politician facing the centuries-old parliament.

Friday's killing renewed concern about the risks politicians run as they go about their work. British politicians generally are not given police protection when meeting constituents – unlike the high-security measures that are in place in the UK parliament.

But the vitriol directed towards them has escalated in recent years, with many blaming the more polarized atmosphere on social media and the political divisions stoked by Britain's departure from the European Union.

"We want to be accessible and approachable, but recently there has been more and more violent abuse," Labour lawmaker Tanmanjeet Dhesi said.

Veteran Labour lawmaker Harriet Harman also said she would write to Johnson and ask him to back a non-partisan conference to review the safety of parliamentarians.

"Since Jo Cox's tragic killing, we've had changes in our home security, we've had changes in security in Parliament, but we haven't looked at the issue of how we go about that important business in our constituency, but do it in a safe way," Harman told BBC radio. "I think we must do that now."

Last year, in his own book "Ayes & Ears: A Survivor's Guide to Westminster," Amess wrote about what he called Cox's "barbaric" murder and how security issues could spoil "the great British tradition" of voters' easy access to their elected leaders.

He warned at the time "it could happen to any of us."

 

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Attempted stabbing attack thwarted in Gush Etzion https://www.israelhayom.com/2021/05/02/attempted-stabbing-attack-thwarted-in-gush-etzion/ https://www.israelhayom.com/2021/05/02/attempted-stabbing-attack-thwarted-in-gush-etzion/#respond Sun, 02 May 2021 06:52:40 +0000 https://www.israelhayom.com/?p=620663   A 60-year-old Palestinian woman attempted to stab an IDF soldier with a knife at Gush Etzion Junction, Sunday morning. Follow Israel Hayom on Facebook and Twitter IDF soldiers at the scene shot the woman in the upper body, neutralizing her. The assailant was taken for medical treatment in serious condition. No Israelis were injured […]

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A 60-year-old Palestinian woman attempted to stab an IDF soldier with a knife at Gush Etzion Junction, Sunday morning.

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IDF soldiers at the scene shot the woman in the upper body, neutralizing her.

The assailant was taken for medical treatment in serious condition.

No Israelis were injured in the incident.

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Police officer wounded in attempted Samaria stabbing attack https://www.israelhayom.com/2021/04/30/attempted-stabbing-attack-thwarted-in-samaria/ https://www.israelhayom.com/2021/04/30/attempted-stabbing-attack-thwarted-in-samaria/#respond Fri, 30 Apr 2021 09:15:02 +0000 https://www.israelhayom.com/?p=620123   An attempted stabbing attack was thwarted in Samaria, Friday. Follow Israel Hayom on Facebook and Twitter According to initial reports, a terrorist attempted to stab a police officer and Israeli soldier with a sharp object at Efrat Junction South in Samaria. The officer, who sustained injuries, responded with gunfire to the head and chest, […]

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An attempted stabbing attack was thwarted in Samaria, Friday.

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According to initial reports, a terrorist attempted to stab a police officer and Israeli soldier with a sharp object at Efrat Junction South in Samaria.

The officer, who sustained injuries, responded with gunfire to the head and chest, neutralizing the attacker. He was treated at the scene.

The assailant was taken to Jerusalem's Shaare Zedek Medical Center for treatment.

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Netanyahu condemns 'vicious attack' at home of New York rabbi https://www.israelhayom.com/2019/12/29/multiple-victims-reported-in-stabbing-in-synagogue-in-monsey-ny/ https://www.israelhayom.com/2019/12/29/multiple-victims-reported-in-stabbing-in-synagogue-in-monsey-ny/#respond Sun, 29 Dec 2019 04:31:56 +0000 https://www.israelhayom.com/?p=450333 This week's cabinet meeting began on a somber note as Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu condemned a brutal stabbing at the home of a rabbi in Monsey, New York, on Saturday. "Israel strongly condemns the recent displays of anti-Semitism, including the vicious attack at the home of a rabbi ... during Hanukkah," Netanyahu said. Follow Israel […]

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This week's cabinet meeting began on a somber note as Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu condemned a brutal stabbing at the home of a rabbi in Monsey, New York, on Saturday.

"Israel strongly condemns the recent displays of anti-Semitism, including the vicious attack at the home of a rabbi ... during Hanukkah," Netanyahu said.

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"We send our best wishes for recovery to the wounded. We will cooperate however possible with the local authorities in order to assist in defeating this phenomenon. We offer our assistance to every country," the prime minister added.

According to CBS New York, the assailant reportedly used a machete to attack people attending a Hanukkah lighting celebration at hassidic Rabbi Chaim Rottenberg's home, which also functions as the Netzach Yisroel synagogue.

Two people were said to be in critical condition, with one of them stabbed at least six times, and three others were moderately wounded.

According to local media reports, the assailant was apprehended in Harlem early Sunday morning after a short manhunt.

The Orthodox Jewish Public Affairs Council for the Hudson Valley region tweeted, "At 9:50 [EST] this eve, a call came in about a mass stabbing at 47 Forshay Road in Monsey (Rockland County; 30 miles North of NYC). It's the house of a Hasidic Rabbi. 5 patients with stab wounds, all Hasidic, were transported to local hospitals," it said on Twitter.

The council said the assailant was an African American male, his face partially masked with a scarf.

Clips circulated on social media show ambulances and security personnel rushing to the site.

Investigators cordoned off the large home on Forshay Road with yellow crime scene tape as of 3 a.m. Onlookers gathered nearby and watched as officers collected evidence and worked to determine what occurred hours earlier. A number of police and emergency vehicles also remained at the scene.

The incident follows a string of anti-Semitic assaults in New York, including on Friday morning, when three young Jewish women were attacked in Brooklyn.

"I am horrified by the stabbing of multiple people at a synagogue in Rockland County tonight," Governor of New York Andrew Cuomo tweeted. "We have zero-tolerance for anti-Semitism in NY and we will hold the attacker accountable to the fullest extent of the law. NY stands with the Jewish community."

Cuomo, who called the stabbings a "cowardly act" has directed the state police hate crimes task force to investigate the attacks.

"Let me be clear: anti-Semitism and bigotry of any kind are repugnant to our values of inclusion and diversity and we have absolutely zero tolerance for such acts of hate," he said in a statement. "In New York we will always stand up and say with one voice to anyone who wishes to divide and spread fear: you do not represent New York and your actions will not go unpunished."

Israeli President Reuven Rivlin also condemned the attack on Twitter saying a collective effort is needed to stop future incidents.

"Shocked and outraged by the terrible attack in #NY and praying for the recovery of those injured. #Antisemitism is not just a #Jewish problem, and certainly not just the State of #Israel's problem," he tweeted. "We must work together to confront this rising evil, which is a real global threat."

Officials with the Simon Wiesenthal Center called on US President Donald Trump to instruct the FBI to create a special task force in wake of unending attacks against Jews and their religious institutions.

Rabbis Marvin Hier and Abraham Cooper, Dean and Founder and Associate Dean of the leading Jewish Human Rights NGO are also urging Black leaders to speak out against the spate of recent hate crimes in New York and New Jersey carried out by African Americans.

"Enough is enough! Jews should not have to fear for their lives in America to go to their houses of worship. The FBI must step up and take the lead in all recent violent hate crimes targeting religious Jews."

New York Attorney General, Letitia James, said she was "deeply disturbed" by the situation in Monsey. "There is zero tolerance for acts of hate of any kind and we will continue to monitor this horrific situation."

New York City Mayor Bill de Blasio said Friday that police presence would increase in Brooklyn neighborhoods with large Jewish populations.

Vice Chairman of the World Zionist Organization and Commissioner for Combating Anti-Semitism at the National Institutions in Israel Yaakov Hagoel issued a statement saying, "I am appalled to see Jews brutally harmed in the synagogue as a place of prayer, just because they are Jews. I demand from the US government to protect Jews, pass strict laws to combat anti-Semitism, enforce existing anti-xenophobia legislation and, most importantly, implement anti-hate programs in all schools. We must show zero tolerance for any anti-Semitic incident."

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Paris knife attacker displayed signs of Islamic radicalization https://www.israelhayom.com/2019/10/06/paris-knife-attacker-displayed-signs-of-islamic-radicalization/ https://www.israelhayom.com/2019/10/06/paris-knife-attacker-displayed-signs-of-islamic-radicalization/#respond Sun, 06 Oct 2019 05:22:25 +0000 https://www.israelhayom.com/?p=422605 France's anti-terrorism prosecutor said on Saturday an investigation had detected signs of "latent radicalization" in an attacker who stabbed four co-workers to death with a knife at police headquarters in Paris this week. The assailant, an IT worker at the headquarters, went on a rampage on Thursday, killing three police officers and an administrative worker, […]

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France's anti-terrorism prosecutor said on Saturday an investigation had detected signs of "latent radicalization" in an attacker who stabbed four co-workers to death with a knife at police headquarters in Paris this week.

The assailant, an IT worker at the headquarters, went on a rampage on Thursday, killing three police officers and an administrative worker, and wounding at least one other, before being shot dead by police.

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Francois Ricard, the anti-terrorism prosecutor, said his office had taken over the probe due to signs the crime was premeditated and because of the nature of the injuries found on at least one of the victims.

The prosecutor also said that the attacker had stated a desire to die.

"The context of latent radicalization" and messages of exclusively religious character the attacker sent to his wife shortly before the crime were added factors, Ricard told a news conference.

The investigation also revealed contacts between the attacker and several individuals who likely belong to an Islamist Salafist movement, Ricard said.

The killer, 45, has been identified by officials only as Mickael H.

'Deadly journey'

Officials have not said explicitly there was a terrorist motive behind the attack, but handing a case to anti-terrorism prosecutors usually indicates a terrorism link is the focus of inquiries.

In response, Prime Minister Édouard Philippe told weekly newspaper Le Journal du Dimanche he had ordered inspectors to review the procedures in place at the police headquarters' intelligence department and anti-terror intelligence unit to detect signs of radicalization among civil servants.

Philippe also defended Interior Minister Christophe Castaner, who has come under attack from French opposition parties. The far-right National Rally and the center-right Les Republicains on Saturday called for parliament to launch an investigation into Castaner.

Last Thursday, Castaner had said the attacker had exhibited no warning signs ahead of the deadly rampage.

"I am confident in Christophe Castaner, who expressed what he knew at the moment when he spoke," Phillipe was quoted as saying on Saturday.

Ricard said that during a "deadly journey," the attacker first stabbed two police officers. A third police officer was killed in another office and an administrative worker died on the stairs.

The attacker was born on the French island of Martinique and had worked at the police headquarters for several years. He was a recent convert to Islam.

The knife attack unfolded just after midday on Thursday when the attacker, on the first floor of the police headquarters, used a kitchen knife to stab three policemen before taking the stairs down to the ground floor of the building.

On the staircase, he came across two women staff, according to Le Parisien newspaper, which cited an internal police report on the incident. He stabbed both of them, fatally wounding one.

He then moved out into the courtyard of the police headquarters. There, according to the Parisien account, a policeman responsible for security at the building issued several warnings, then fired several shots at the attacker, including to his head, killing him.

The officer used a Heckler & Koch G-36 assault rifle, the newspaper reported.

The police officer who halted the attack had recently completed his training and had been in the job for only six days, Paris police chief Didier Lallement told reporters.

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'Recent convert to Islam' stabs 4 to death at Paris police headquarters https://www.israelhayom.com/2019/10/04/attacker-stabs-4-to-death-at-police-headquarters-in-central-paris/ https://www.israelhayom.com/2019/10/04/attacker-stabs-4-to-death-at-police-headquarters-in-central-paris/#respond Fri, 04 Oct 2019 05:22:51 +0000 https://www.israelhayom.com/?p=422199 A 45-year-old technology administrator at the police headquarters in central Paris went on a knife rampage inside the building on Thursday, killing three police officers and an administrative worker before he was shot dead by an officer, French officials said. French broadcaster BFM TV said the attacker had converted to Islam 18 months ago. Follow […]

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A 45-year-old technology administrator at the police headquarters in central Paris went on a knife rampage inside the building on Thursday, killing three police officers and an administrative worker before he was shot dead by an officer, French officials said.

French broadcaster BFM TV said the attacker had converted to Islam 18 months ago.

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Officials did not say anything about the motive for the attack and said they were still trying to discover if there was a terrorism link.

The man launched the attack in his office then moved to other parts of the large 19th-century building across the street from the Notre Dame Cathedral.

An officer stopped the attack when he shot the assailant in the compound's courtyard, said a police official. The official was not authorized to talk publicly about the case and requested anonymity.

Emery Siamandi, who works at police headquarters, said he was in the stairwell leading to the chief's office when he heard gunshots.

"I told myself, this isn't right," Siamandi said. "Moments later, I saw three policewomen crying. I couldn't help them in any way, and their colleagues were crying, too, so I figured it must be serious."

He said he saw one officer on his knees in tears.

The area around the police headquarters was sealed off and a metro station was shut for security reasons as the attack unfolded.

The dead were three men and a woman, according to Paris prosecutor Remy Heitz. Another person was wounded and is undergoing surgery.

Heitz said police were searching the attacker's home, and that anti-terrorist investigators were evaluating what had happened, for any terrorist links. The attacker's wife had been brought into police custody but not charged, the Paris prosecutor's office said.

"It's the worst scenario possible, an internal attack with colleagues working together," said Philippe Capon of the UNSA police union.

Capon cautioned against jumping to conclusions on the motive and said, "Nothing can be ruled out, including a personal issue."

French media reported the employee carried out the attack with a ceramic knife.

President Emmanuel Macron stopped by police headquarters to show solidarity with officers and department employees, his office said.

The neighborhood where the police compound is located, a busy tourist destination, was locked down, the Cite metro stop was closed and the bridge between Notre Dame and the headquarters building was blocked off.

"Paris weeps for its own this afternoon after this terrifying attack in the police headquarters. The toll is heavy, several officers lost their lives," Mayor Anne Hidalgo tweeted.

Speaking outside the police headquarters, French Interior Minister Christophe Castaner said the attacker was known to his colleagues and had worked for some time in the IT department.

"He had never presented any behavioral issues, he had never presented the slightest cause for alarm before going on his deadly rampage today," Castaner said. "There were no warning signs."

A police official and member of the collective "Police up in Anger," which lobbies for better conditions for officers, was quoted by France Info radio as saying the assailant had experienced issues with his supervisor.

"I know there were tensions between him and his direct supervisor," Christophe Crepin told France Info. "I do not think this is a terrorist act."

Jean-Marc Bailleul, a police union leader, described the incident as criminal rather than an act of terror. "It was a moment of madness," Bailleul told BFM TV.

In the past four years, the French capital has been rocked by violent attacks resulting in mass casualties.

Coordinated bombings and shootings by Islamist terrorists in November 2015, at the Bataclan theater and other locations around Paris, killed 130 people in the deadliest attacks in France since World War II.

In a three-day killing spree in January 2015, Islamist gunmen killed reporters and illustrators at satirical weekly Charlie Hebdo, police officers, and shoppers at a Jewish supermarket.

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