Soldier shoots armed attacker at Louvre museum in Paris

A French soldier shot a man who attempted on Friday to enter the Louvre, Paris’ landmark art museum, carrying at least one suitcase or backpack and wielding a machete.

 Elaine Cobbe CBS Radio News correspondent says, according to a local officials, the assailant was shot and wounded after pulling a machete on the soldier. The soldier fired a total of five shots, according to Cadot, and Luc Poignant, the head of a French police union told France Info radio that the suspect had gunshot injuries to his abdomen and leg.

Bomb technicians were called to the scene to investigate the bag the man was carrying, but an Interior Ministry spokesperson at the scene said no explosives were found. The spokesman said police were establishing a security perimeter around the museum, and that about 250 museum guests were being evacuated.

According to Cadot, remarks made by the suspect led security forces to believe he wanted to carry out a terrorist attack. The assailant lunged at the soldier before he was shot, Cadot said.

French Prime Minister Bernard Cazeneuve said later Friday that the incident was “terrorist in nature.”
A second individual was taken into custody following the attack, but Interior Ministry spokesman Pierre-Henry Brandet said it would be up to prosecutors to determine his involvement, if there was any.