Paris horror: 'Dangerous individual' armed with knife sparks panic by school

The terrifying incident took place outside a school in Seine-Saint-Denis, Paris. The suspect is believed to have repeatedly threatened parents who were taking their children to school. Police quickly made an arrest.

The suspect has been taken into custody and an investigation has been launched by the police.

Gérald Darmanin, France’s Interior Minister, took to Twitter to praise the police for their swift action.

He said: “I salute the composure and dynamism of the police, who intervened very quickly to arrest a dangerous individual, armed with a knife, in front of an elementary school in Seine-Saint-Denis.

“This individual was making threatening words.”

Mayor Jean-Paul Fauconnet also thanked police for their diligence.

He wrote on Twitter: “This morning, a man with a knife made threats near the school in the town centre at the start of the school year.

“I salute the efficiency of the police and our video surveillance system, which enabled his rapid arrest.

“He is in custody. Investigation in progress.”

It comes after France has been rocked by a number of terror attacks in recent weeks.

Most recently three people died in an attack at the Notre Dame Basilica in Nice.

All three victims were attacked inside the Basilica before the first Mass of the day.

One elderly victim was “virtually beheaded”, officials said. Another woman and a man also died.

A male suspect was shot and detained.

French President Emmanuel Macron declared it an “Islamist terrorist attack”.

Two weeks prior to the Church attack, history teacher Samuel Paty, 47, was beheaded outside his high school after showing his class caricatures including one of the Prophet Muhammad during a discussion on free speech.

The teacher had received death threats after giving the class, during which he showed pupils the controversial cartoons.

The gruesome killing happened in broad daylight outside the school where the teacher worked in Conflans-Sainte-Honorine, north-west of Paris.

Speaking after the attack, President Macron said: “One of our fellow citizens was murdered because he taught, he taught his pupils freedom of expression, to believe or not to believe. Our compatriot was the victim of a blatant Islamist terrorist attack.”

source: express.co.uk