Armed police and soldiers descended on the eastern Paris neighbourhood near Richard Lenoir Metro station shortly before midday. Two people have were injured in the attack, with one understood to be in a serious condition in hospital. The two victims have been identified as a man and a woman who work in production at the First Lines news agency, located next to the former offices of satirical magazine Charlie Hebdo.
A witness told BFMTV: “I saw a young woman with a huge head injury, blood was running all over her face.
Police arrested one man on the steps of the Opera Bastille at around 12.45pm local time. He had traces of blood on his clothes, according to French newspaper Figaro.
Police said a blade was found, with different officers describing it as both a machete and a meat cleaver.
Emergency services also discovered a suspicious package and cordoned off the area.
An employee of the agency Paul Moreira told BFMTV: “We have two injured, one of which is serious.
”It was someone who was in the street with a kind of chopper, who attacked them in front of the building .”
President of the Île-de-France region Valérie Pécresse tweeted: “Extremely shocked by the deadly attack near the former premises of #CharlieHebdo, in a district of Paris which has already paid a heavy price for terrorist violence.”
Paris deputy mayor Emmanuel Gregoire said on Twitter police were looking for a “potentially dangerous” individual.
French Prime Minister Jean Castex rushed to the Interior Ministry to follow developments.
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He told BFMTV: “I asked nurseries, schools and businesses to barricade themselves.
“Don’t pick up your children from school.”
The motive for this attack is not yet clear.
The attack has also not been linked to Charlie Hebdo, when 12 people were killed after Islamic extremists attacked the offices in 2015.
The trial over the attacks is currently taking place in Paris.
The attackers’ widows are scheduled to testify this afternoon.