Police in Paris killed a knife-wielding terror suspect who wore a fake explosive vest Thursday Jan. 7, 2016, as France marked one year after the deadly attack on the satirical magazine Charlie Hebdo Fox News reported.
Police shot the unidentified man, as he tried to enter a police station in the northern portion of the city. Another police official said the man was carrying a butcher’s knife.
Pictures posted on social media showed a man in jeans and a grey jacket lying with his arms out at his sides on the pavement, yards from the entrance to the police station.
Two French officials told The Associated Press that the man had wires extending from his clothing and an explosives squad was on site. But police later said an explosive vest the man was wearing was fake.
A police spokeswoman told Bloomberg News shots were fired at the man to prevent him from entering the building.
A Paris police official said police were investigating the incident as “more likely terrorism” than a standard criminal act. The official spoke to The Associated Press on condition of anonymity because he was not authorized to be publicly named according to police policy.
The attack came minutes after French President Francois Hollande warned that the threat of terrorism will continue to weigh on the country amid an ongoing state of emergency.
On Jan. 7, 2015, two French-born brothers killed 11 people inside the building where the satirical magazine Charlie Hebdo operated, as well as a Muslim policeman outside. Over the next two days, an accomplice shot a policewoman to death and then stormed a kosher supermarket, killing four hostages. All three gunmen died.
In a speech to police forces charged with protecting the country against new attacks, Hollande said the government was passing new laws and ramping up security, but the threat remained high.
“We must be able to force these people –and only these people– to fulfill certain obligations and if necessary to put them under house arrest … because they are dangerous,” he said.