Responding to reports of gunfire and mass panic at the site of the famed Notre Dame cathedral in Paris, police arrived on scene to find a single male suspect attacking a police officer with a hammer, shouting "This is for Syria". The 900 people inside the cathedral reportedly remained calm until they were allowed to exit again.
The 49-year-old said she was being held with her husband and about 500 others inside the landmark, where many prayed and the mood is sober.
The performance of France's intelligence services have come under close scrutiny since the November 2015 attacks on Paris, when militant gunmen and suicide bombers struck entertainment venues across the capital, killing 130 people.
One man who said he had just visited Notre Dame moments before the attack tweeted that "shots were fired" and that "people ran everywhere".
The BBC reported that a man tried to attacked a police officer with a hammer.
French Interior Minister Gérard Colomb said the attacker cried "it's for Syria". He said the man was carrying the identification card of an Algerian student and that preliminary information indicated the attacker had acted alone.
The attacker was armed with kitchen knives and a hammer, Interior Minister Gerard Collomb told reporters, according to the AP.
A source close to the investigation told the AFP news agency that the suspect has claimed to be a "soldier" of Islamic State.
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Several of the attacks have targeted police or security officials. He added that the policeman's injuries were not too serious and that he was in a stable condition.
The incident happened around 4:20 p.m. A large number of police cars descended on the Ile de Cite island in the Seine River, where the celebrated cathedral is located.
Hundreds of people on the esplanade in front of Notre Dame were evacuated and authorities urged people to stay away from the area.
Dozens of armed police sealed off the area and put the Gothic cathedral into lockdown with almost 1,000 tourists and worshippers inside. French police later said they would be letting visitors out after conducting security checks.
"It was really scary, we had no idea if there were any accomplices inside", she said.
Police found the video in a search of his rental residence in the northwestern Paris suburb of Cergy, a source with knowledge of the investigation told global news agency AFP.
Kyle Riches, from San Francisco, was walking with his wife through the plaza outside the cathedral when they heard gunshots.
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