PARIS—Another nerve-wracking security incident in the Olympic host city before the Summer Games open in six months left three people injured in an early-morning attack at the busy Gare de Lyon train station in Paris on Saturday by a man armed with a knife and a hammer.
Following the attack at 7:35 a.m., the 31-year-old guy was promptly placed into police custody. He was carrying residency papers from Italy and medications that suggested he was receiving treatment. in one of the vast rooms of the station, according to the authorities. Millions of people travel on the commuter and high-speed trains at the hub.
“This individual appears to suffer from psychiatric troubles,” said Laurent Nunez, the Paris police chief who is also in charge of the massive security operation for the July 26-Aug. 11 Olympic Games.
While stressing that the police investigation was still in early stages, Mr. Nunez said: “There are no elements that lead us to think that this could be a terrorist act.”
Authorities claimed that two other persons had minor injuries and that a man had been critically injured in the stomach and required surgery.
Mr. Nunez added that onlookers assisted railway police officials in apprehending the culprit. According to him, the man was holding residency documents that had been issued in Italy and gave him permission to enter other European nations lawfully.
The individual is believed to be from Mali, in northwest Africa, according to the Paris prosecutor's office, and a preliminary accusation of attempted murder may be considered as part of the police inquiry.
Interior Minister Gerald Darmanin called the attack a "unbearable act" in a social media post.
As the French capital gets ready to host the first Olympic Games in a century, 10,500 Olympians and millions of spectators will be arriving, increasing security.
The city has been the target of numerous Islamic extremist attacks, most notably in 2015 when waves of attacks in January and November claimed the lives of 147 people due to shooters and bombers. The Games present a significant security risk for the city.
Most recently, in December, a suspect used a knife to kill a German-Filipino tourist and wound two more as they attacked bystanders near the Eiffel Tower. The individual had already been found guilty and sentenced to prison for a planned attack that never happened, and he was being watched for signs of Islamic radicalization.
A special focus on security is the opening ceremony of the Games along the Seine River. The inaugural opening ceremony of the Games will be conducted outside the more easily controlled boundaries of a stadium, requiring the deployment of tens of thousands of police officers and soldiers. The estimated number of spectators was recently reduced by the organizers from the 600,000 they had originally stated to roughly 300,000.
Soldiers on patrol at the train station promptly eased passengers' anxieties and restored order.
“Unfortunately one gets used to these kind of happenings around the world,” said Celine Erades, a 47-year-old at the station with her daughter. “We have very few cases like this, but it’s always deplorable when they happen.”
