A knife-wielding man who was trying to enter the underground shop of Paris’ Louvre museum was shot at by a French soldier on Thursday, reported Telegraph. The suspect is seriously injured. The police have evacuated the area and the museum has been temporarily shut down.
The man had tried to push his way into the underground shop and had attacked another soldier before being shot, reported Reuters. Officials said one of four soldiers present resorted to gunning him down only after other “non-lethal” measures failed. The French interior ministry said on Twitter that the incident was “serious” and urged people not to broadcast false information.
The attacker was carrying a machete and had threatened the military and police at the museum, the interior ministry said in another tweet. “A soldier opened fire to defend against the aggression,” it said, adding that one of the soldiers has been injured.
The military had fired five shots and the man was injured in the stomach. However, after thorough checking, no explosive was found in the man’s bag, the ministry said.
The man is believed to have shouted “Allahu Akbar”. The French Prime Minister Bernard Cazeneuve called the attack “terrorist in nature”.
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