Suspect died of his injuries, police officer injured “in absolute emergency”

The officer’s life “is not in danger,” said police chief Laurent Nuñez.

“A police officer was the victim of an attack in the 8th arrondissement of Paris”announced Gérald Darmanin on Thursday, July 18, on X. According to the Minister of the Interior, the member of the police force “intervened following a call from agents securing a store”. The suspect, who was “neutralized” by the police, finally died of his injuries, franceinfo learned Thursday evening from the public prosecutor’s office. The attack took place on rue Vernet, near the Champs-Elysées, near the headquarters of Louis-Vuitton.

The police officer, who was stabbed, “is in absolute emergency, but his life is not in danger”said the police chief, Laurent Nuñez, on Thursday. He claims to have exchanged a few words with the victim before she was evacuated. The police chief judges the use of the administrative weapon “completely proportionate”, even if it is up to the judicial investigation to establish it.

Regarding the motive of the main suspect, now deceased, “There is no terrorist motivation at this stage, nor any link to the Olympic Games”said Laurent Nuñez. “A criminal investigation into the attempted murder of a police officer, for which the 1st judicial police district has been notified”was opened, the prosecution also announced.

As the events unfolded, employees of a store first reported the presence of an individual possibly armed with a knife, explained Laurent Nuñez. The police then established a security perimeter and “this 27 year old man” fled quickly before being pursued, he added. The suspect pulled out a knife and tried to use it twice against the officers. Despite using a gas canister, he stabbed the officer once “at the cervical level” of an agent, reported Laurent Nuñez.