A major train station in Paris has been evacuated after a man was seen brandishing a knife, police have said.
In a statement, the prosecutor’s office said an officer used his “weapon” on the man at Montparnasse station, who then inflicted knife wounds on himself.
A police source said the man had threatened his wife and children in a Paris suburb before taking a train destined for Montparnasse where police were waiting for him. When officers confronted the man, he threatened to kill himself and was then shot in the legs, the source said.
The prosecutor’s office said at least one gunshot was heard. One witness told Reuters they heard several shots.
A high-ranking police source hasreportedly indicating that terrorism has been ruled out as a motivation at this stage, BFMTV reported.
The man was a 44-year-old originally from Wallis and Futuna, and was travelling onboard a OUIGO train connecting Rennes to Paris, arriving at Montparnasse station at 3:02pm local time (2:02pm GMT), Le Parisien reported.
A witness told BFMTV he heard a loud bang before panic broke out around him.
“It took me two or three seconds to realize what was happening. People started saying, ‘We have to get out of here, we have to leave quickly’, so that got my heart racing and I got up and ran,” the witness told the news network.
The police intervention caused a crowd surge through the concourse, a Reuters photographer at the station when the incident occurred said
Authorities evacuated the station, which serves suburban commuter routes and high-speed trains headed to the country’s west and southwest.
“It appears from the initial information we have received that a man known for domestic violence had brandished a knife, and that a police officer used his weapon to stop him,” the Paris prosecutor’s office said.
“The man then allegedly stabbed himself.”
More to follow…
