Paris police chief says man who injured 3 in knife and hammer attack may suffer mental health issues

PARIS (AP) — A man armed with a knife and a hammer injured three people Saturday in an early-morning attack at the major Gare de Lyon train station in Paris, another nerve-rattling security incident in the Olympic host city before the Summer Games open in six months.

The Paris prosecutor’s office said a security guard tackled the attacker who was taken into police custody following the attack at 7:35 a.m.

One of the injured was in a serious condition and the other two were more lightly hurt, police said.

The Paris police chief, Laurent Nunez, said the suspect attacked passersby with a hammer and a knife. The seriously injured person was undergoing surgery, he said.

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He said the attack did not appear to be terror-related and that the suspect seemed to suffer from mental health issues. The suspect was carrying residency papers delivered in Italy, he said.

Investigators are analyzing the knife and hammer, the prosecutor’s office said. The police investigation was looking at a potential preliminary charge of attempted murder.

Posting on social media, Interior Minister Gerald Darmanin described the attack as an “unbearable act” and thanked those who detained the assailant.

Security in Paris is being ramped up as it prepares to welcome 10,500 Olympians and millions of visitors for the first Olympic Games in a century in the French capital.

The Games are to open with a massive open-air ceremony along the River Seine on July 26, a major security challenge in the city that has been repeatedly hit by terror attacks, most notably in 2015.

Most recently, a man targeted passersby near the Eiffel Tower in December, killing a German tourist with a knife and injuring two others.

The Gare de Lyon is one of the busiest train stations in Paris. It is a hub both for high-speed trains that link the capital to other cities and for commuter trains that serve the suburbs and towns in the Paris region.