Man Wielding Knife Attacks Three Women in Central Paris, Shouting That Allah Sent Him to Kill

In central Paris, a man armed with knives attacked three women while shouting that Allah had sent him to kill. The incident was captured on video, which quickly spread across social media.

According to the newspaper Le Parisien, investigators have not yet classified the incident as an act of terrorism. A source close to the investigation noted: "At first it looked like terrorism" — the attacker claimed Allah had ordered him to kill women. However, the source added, "it now looks more like a mental disorder." France's anti-terrorism prosecutor's office has declined to take up the case; the investigation into the attempted murder is being handled by Paris's first police district.

Footage circulating online shows a man in beige clothing with long black hair running down the street with a knife in each hand, apparently searching for a victim. When he spotted a woman walking toward him, he briefly kept running without stopping. Later footage shows bystanders tackling the attacker to the ground and holding him down until police arrived.

France's Interior Minister Laurent Nunez said the detained man's statements were extremely incoherent. According to the BFM TV channel, he is 31 years old, and police are now looking into his background.

Around Prague, based on reporting by novinky.cz