11 June, 2017
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. The police officers were praised online by Paris Mayor Anne Hidalgo, who tweeted her salute to their "courage".
The injured officer is recovering in the hospital, police said. One of his colleagues responded by shooting him, wounding the attacker, whose motives were not immediately known, according to a police source. Meantime, it was frightening for the 600 people inside Notre Dame Cathedral.
Some Twitter users posted videos and images of the scene post the cordon.
New video has emerged showing the moment a man wielding a hammer attacked a police patrol in front of Paris' Notre Dame Cathedral.
The 22-year-old police officer sustained minor neck injuries in the assault in the packed square at one of France's most visited tourist attractions.
The last fatal attack in France dates to April 20, when a policeman was shot dead on Paris's prestigious Champs-Elysees avenue, three days before the first round of the presidential election.
Macron wants to extend a state of emergency that has been in place since jihadi gunmen and suicide bombers killed 130 people in coordinated attacks on entertainment venues in Paris in late 2015.
"I turned around and saw the assailant on the ground where they had shot him", she said.
Among the crowd was former White House Deputy National Security Advisor and Ambassador to the United Nations Nancy Soderberg, who is now a professor at the University of North Florida in Jacksonville.
"My wife and I ran".
Although the hour-long operation at Notre Dame has ended, France's counter-terrorism office has opened an investigation.
The visitors got nervous when they were told soon after that the doors were closing and everyone had to stay inside, Ms Soderberg said from inside Notre Dame.
The cathedral, a Gothic landmark on the Île de la Cité on the Seine, was sealed off, and visitors and worshippers were told not to leave.
A woman in the area at the time said she heard two shots.
"People were extraordinarily calm, helping those who don't speak English translate", she said, adding that she felt safe but the situation was terrifying.
CNN reported on air that Paris police were asking residents and tourists to avoid the area.
