14 June, 2017
He said the man approached a police patrol from behind at about 4.20pm on Tuesday, took a hammer out of his backpack and hit one of the officers in the head.
Paris police investigate in Notre Dame attack; suspect used hammer to attack police officer outside cathedral. "Situation under control, one policeman injured, the assailant was neutralised and taken to hospital", Paris police said on Twitter. One officer was hurt, according to one source.
"We've gone from very sophisticated terrorism; now we are at a point where we have this basic terrorism using any basic tools they can find", Mr Collomb said in comments translated from French.
Earlier, the French police successfully responded to an incident near the Notre Dame cathedral and advised the public to stay away from the area.
French police and gendarmes stand at the scene of a shooting incident near the Notre Dame Cathedral in Paris.
In this image provided by Nancy Soderberg, people inside Notre Dame cathedral sit with their hands in the air, after an attack on police in Paris, Tuesday, June 6, 2017.
Initial reports said a person allegedly assaulted an officer with a hammer, BMFTV reported.
Throngs of tourists outside the cathedral fled on foot, while hundreds of people remained in lockdown inside the edifice. Trapped in Notre Dame Cathedral after police shoot a man. Castaner said it "is very hard to anticipate" attacks when they were staged by people who were not on the police radar.
The video shows the suspect, identified as Algerian-born doctoral student Farid Ikken, claiming responsibility for his "future actions", LCI reported, citing unnamed sources in the security services.
Journalist David Metreau, who said his office overlooks the square, tweeted that there were two blasts that sounded like shots, and posted a photo of a body lying seemingly inert on the ground.
"I thought it was very well-handled, but it makes you think twice", she said.
France is still in a state of emergency after the November 2015 Paris attacks that killed 130 people.
In the last fatal attack, a policeman was shot and killed on Paris's prestigious Champs-Elysees avenue on April 20, three days before the first round of the presidential election.