France: Man shot dead outside Paris police station

PARIS

A man was shot dead in Paris on Thursday after he allegedly tried to carry out an attack at a police station in the French capital's 18th district, French authorities said.
The French Interior Ministry said the suspect, who acted alone, had been armed with a knife and wore "an apparent explosive vest". The vest later turned out to be a fake.
Paris's chief prosecutor said the suspect targeted police officers guarding the station at around 11.30 a.m. local time [1030GMT], screaming "Allahu Akbar."
However, several witnesses told French broadcaster BFM TV that the man who approached police did not shout any such expression and was in fact unarmed.
But Paris chief prosecutor Francois Molins said in a statement that the unidentified man was found to be in possession of a sheet of paper bearing the Daesh flag and an alleged claim of responsibility by the militant group in Arabic.
"He was found to be in possession of a mobile phone and a piece of paper on which the flag of Daesh was printed, as well as an unequivocal claim handwritten in Arabic," Molins said.
He said an investigation had been opened into the case.
Earlier, French Interior Ministry spokesman Pierre-Henry Brandet told France Info radio that it was too early to say whether or not the incident was a terrorist attack and advised caution.
"It is far too early to speak of a terrorist act. We have to be careful. It is an assault," Brandet said.
Television footage from the scene showed images of a man’s body lying on the ground with a large machete-like knife lying nearby. The remains were searched by a bomb-disposal robot before the intervention of bomb squad.
The area around the police station on Goutte d'Or street in the Barbes neighborhood of northern Paris was also sealed off. Officers had told nearby residents to close their windows and stay indoors.
The attempted assault took place just before midday local time, exactly one year on from the ‪Charlie Hebdo murders.