A man with a hammer attacked a police officer in front of Nortre Dame Cathedral in Paris Tuesday afternoon, causing officials to shut down the area, Paris police confirmed to Fox News.
France's Interior Minister Gerard Collomb said the attacker was carrying the identification of an Algerian student and preliminary information indicated he had acted alone.
Among the several hundred people ordered to remain inside the cathedral was former U.S. Ambassador to the United Nations Nancy Soderberg.
Authorities told people to stay away from the area and some took refuge inside the cathedral.
Paris prosecutors have opened a counter-terrorism investigation into the latest incident.
France is under a state of emergency after a wave of terror attacks since early 2015 that have killed more than 230 people across the country.
Police sources said the officer sustained only minor injuries in the assault, which comes with France on high alert for jihadist strikes after a weekend attack in London.
Two months ago, a police officer was shot dead by an attacker on the Champs Elysees.
A man allegedly attacked a police officer with a hammer near the popular tourist destination.
As of this report, the area is still cordoned off until further notice but police have opened a formal terrorist investigation on the incident. A witness, David Rahul Metreau, told France's BFMTV that he had heard two shots about 4:20 p.m. local time, then looked down from his apartment window to see a man on the ground, surrounded by emergency personnel.
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The officer defended himself from the attacker by firing two shots.
The incident comes just days after three terrorists killed seven and injured almost 50 others in London on Saturday. "I understand the police officer who was attacked is slightly hurt", he said.
"These are the kind of attacks that are, that give everybody nightmares, because there's no plot", he said.
Paris police said a "number of police" are at the square in front of the cathedral.
Anti-terror judges charged a radicalised woman over the failed attack.
The world-famous landmark, which is visited by millions of people a year, was locked down during the incident.
"A person came up behind the police officers, armed with a hammer, and started to hit the police officer", Mr Collomb said. Michel said the attacker was "neutralized" by police.
The motive for the attack was not immediately clear.
Police seal off the access to Notre Dame cathedral in Paris, France, Tuesday, June 6, 2017.
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