French interior minister says suspect shouted ‘This is for Syria’ during Notre Dame attack

The man was shot by police in Paris on Tuesday afternoon.

The man responsible for an attack on a police officer at the Notre Dame cathedral in Paris on Tuesday shouted ‘This is for Syria’ before attacking him with a hammer, according to French interior minister Gerard Collomb. According to the BBC, the attacker was shot but not fatally wounded by a colleague of the police officer who was attacked with the hammer; the victim of the attack was taken to hospital for treatment for minor injuries. French officials say that the attack is being treated as a “terrorist incident”; the country has been in a state of emergency since a series of coordinated terrorist attacks in Paris in November 2015. The attack is reported to have sparked panic amongst hundreds of tourists who were present at the scene; police in Paris say the situation is under control and that members of the public who were confined at the scene will be gradually released after undergoing the usual checks. https://twitter.com/prefpolice/status/872110510698881024 https://twitter.com/prefpolice/status/872113820617060357