A police officer shot down a 19-year-old who had threatened him with a knife, according to media reports in Dieuze in eastern France. The incident occurred in the gendarmerie, reported the broadcaster France 3 today, citing the authorities. Investigators did not rule out a terrorist background.
The attacker was injured in the hospital with abdominal shots, the gendarme had suffered minor cuts to the hand, it was said. Local prosecutor Christian Mercuri said that before the incident, someone on the phone threatened a massacre in Dieuze on behalf of the Islamic State (IS) terrorist militia.
In search of the crime scene, the authorities are now examining a possible connection between the attack and the call. The attacker is said to be a man who had just joined the army, as the newspaper „Dernieres Nouvelles d’Alsace“ wrote, citing the prosecutor. The Metz public prosecutor is in contact with the Paris anti-terrorist public prosecutor.
