A policeman shot down a man who attacked him with a hammer near the cathedral of Notre Dame de Paris

Paris authorities keep a man in their hospital custody who has suddenly hammered a police officer guarding the emblematic Notre Dame Cathedral in Paris.

CNN reported that the police could repel the assault by firing the individual, who was injured. "They sounded like two shots, and then I could smell the gunpowder. I did not see it because it was on the other side of the cathedral, "a woman who asked to be identified as Abigail M.

The police immediately cordoned off the area and asked the passers-by to leave. When registering the attacker, it was determined that other attacker has also carried a kitchen knife, which made him think of the attack last weekend in London.

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At a news conference, French Interior Minister Gérard Collomb said the attacker had shouted "this is for Syria" before being shot down. Although for the moment the authorities have not been able to determine if the individual, who acted alone, was affiliated to an extremist group.

France has been shaken in recent months by several terrorist attacks. In April a man arrived in his car on Avenue Champs Elysees and unloaded his automatic weapon against two policemen who were traveling on foot through that area, killing one and wounding another.

Then he fled, during which he managed to wound another agent before other agents could knock him down with Their weapons.

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