Police officer attacked in Paris, as security measures ramp up for Olympics
Saskya Vandoorne, CNN | 7/19/2024, 2:40 p.m.
Police stand next to an ambulance after an officer was injured in an attack next to the Champs-Elysees avenue, in Paris, France July 18, 2024.
Mandatory Credit: Kevin Coombs/Reuters via CNN Newsource
A police officer was attacked and injured in central Paris on Thursday evening, as France ramps up security measures in the capital ahead of the 2024 Olympics.
“A police officer was attacked in the eighth arrondissement of Paris while he was responding to a call from officers securing a store,” French Interior Minister Gérald Darmanin said in a post on X.
The alleged attacker also sustained injuries from other officers in the incident and has been hospitalized, a source with the Interior Ministry told CNN.
The attack comes a week before the opening ceremony for the 2024 Paris Olympics. The eighth arrondissement is popular with tourists and known for iconic sites including the Champs Elysées.
This is the second violent incident against French security agents this week, after a soldier was stabbed on Monday in a Paris train station. The soldier, who was injured, had been part of Operation Sentinel, an anti-terrorism military operation that was established in the aftermath of the Charlie Hebdo terror attack in January 2015.
France has been strengthening security in the city ahead of the Olympics, which are expected to draw around 15 million visitors, according to the European Union.
This is a developing story and will be updated.
