Knife-Wielding Man Killed by Paris Police Pledged Allegiance to ISIS
He allegedly tried to enter the police station, shouting "Allahu Akbar."
— -- A man who pledged allegiance to ISIS was shot dead by French police after approaching a Paris police station wielding a meat cleaver and shouting “Allahu Akbar,” authorities said.
The suspect, whose name has not been released publicly, had a document pledging allegiance to ISIS leader Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi, the Paris prosecutor’s spokeswoman told ABC News. He was known to authorities after being involved in a robbery case in France in 2013, according to the prosecutor’s office.
The incident unfolded at the station house in the 18th-district neighborhood at 11:30 a.m. after the man, carrying a meat cleaver-type knife, approached the station, officials said.
"He showed his weapon and shouted, 'Allahu Akbar,' before being shot down by police officers," according to statement from the Paris Prosecutor’s office.
Police fired shots and the suspect, born in Morocco in 1995, was severely injured, French government spokesman Pierre-Henry Brandet said. The man later died from his wounds, officials said.
Police say the suspect was initially thought to be wearing some kind of suicide device, but it turned out to be a fake.
"A cellphone was found on him as well as a paper with an ISIS flag and a statement in Arabic," the prosecutor's office said. "The investigation is ongoing and is based on suspicion of attempted murder against persons of public authority in relation to a terrorist enterprise.”
Two schools in the area were locked down as a precautionary measure before students were calmly escorted out, the Paris branch of the French Education Ministry said.
The incident comes as Paris remains on edge following terror attacks in 2015. Today also marks the one-year anniversary of the deadly shooting at the offices of satirical magazine Charlie Hebdo.
The country remains on its highest terror-alert level, which was put in effect after the coordinated attacks in November that left 130 people dead.
ABC News' Louise Dewast and Kelly Stevenson contributed to this report.