Attack on Police Near Notre Dame Cathedral Shakes Paris

The suspect was wounded in the chest during the June 6 attack.

(photo: Pixabay)

PARIS — A man was shot after an apparent hammer attack on police officers at Paris police headquarters next to the Cathedral of Notre Dame on Tuesday.

The suspect was wounded in the chest during the June 6 attack. He had allegedly attacked officers on duty at the headquarters.

The suspect said, “This is for Syria,” according to French Interior Minister Gerard Collomb, reported CNN.

“Hundreds were holed up inside the cathedral, and photos on social media showed people with their hands in the air,” CNN also reported.

Other tourists were able to run from the attack, BBC News reported. The attack closed the area around the historic cathedral, and people were asked to stay away.

The incident follows a London attack in which Islamic extremists used a van and knives to kill seven and wound dozens of people.

Extremist attacks in Paris in 2015 killed 147.

France has experienced several terrorist attacks in recent years, including a July 2016 attack in Saint-Etienne-du-Rouvray in which a priest was murdered while saying Mass. The canonization cause for Father Jacques Hamel has been opened.