LONDON and PARIS — A man who injured at least six people in an attack at Gare du Nord in Paris early Wednesday morning has been shot dead by police and hospitalized, authorities said.
Interior Minister Gérald Darmanin said Twitter that “an individual injured several people this morning at the Gare du Nord. He was quickly neutralized. Thank you to the police for their effective and courageous response.”
French police secure the area after a knife-wielding man injured several people at Gare du Nord train station in Paris, France, January 11, 2023.
Benoit Tessier/Reuters
The alleged attacker is alive and has been hospitalized, authorities said. The six injured were also taken to hospital, Darmanin told a news conference at the station, where he was flanked by armed police. An officer was injured in 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 appeared to say nothing 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 punched 20 times, he added.
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 border police at the Gare du Nord was also injured. The 36-year-old remains hospitalized, prosecutors said.
French Interior Minister Gérald Darmanin (C) talks to the press next to Deputy Transport Minister Clement Beaune (L), Paris Mayor Anne Hidalgo (4thL) and Paris Police Prefect Laurent Nunez ( 2ndL) at the Gare du Nord in Paris on 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 was 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 have been entrusted to the judicial police. The provisional toll is 6 people injured, including one in absolute emergency. The suspect was hospitalized after being shot several times by the police.”
The suspect is said to be a man in his twenties born in Libya or Algeria, the prosecution said.
A police parking lot parks in front of Gare du Nord, Wednesday, January 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 London-Paris route of the Channel Tunnel.
ABC News’ Joe Simonetti contributed to this report.