France: Man shot dead outside Paris police station
Interior ministry says man was armed with a knife and 'an apparent explosive vest'
A man was shot dead in Paris on Thursday after he tried to carry out an attack at a police station in the French capital's eighteenth district.
According to the country’s interior ministry the man was armed with a knife and "an apparent explosive vest".
The individual was described as "threatening" by police. Local media reports suggested he had an accomplice who is now believed to be on the run.
The attempted assault took place just before midday local time, exactly one year on from the Charlie Hebdo murders.
TV footage from the scene showed images of a man’s body lying on the ground, a large machete-like knife with a wooden handle lying nearby. The remains were searched by a bomb-disposal robot.
The area around the police station on Goutte d'Or street in the immigrant-populated Barbes neighborhood, northern Paris, has been sealed off and armed police are on the streets.
Officers have told nearby residents to close their windows and stay indoors.
Interior Minister Bernard Cazeneuve and Paris prosecutor Francois Molins are expected on site.
