French police kill a man who tried to attack gendarmes with a knife at the Arc de Triomphe

This body has indicated that it has opened an investigation for “the charges of attempted murder of persons responsible for public authority (PDAP) in relation to with a terrorist objective, and participation in a criminal terrorist association of evildoers”.

The investigations have been entrusted to the anti-terrorist section of the Paris criminal brigade, the Directorate of the Judicial Police (DPJ-PP) and the General Directorate of Internal Security (DGSI).

According to the first elements handled by the Prosecutor’s Office, a man tried to attack a member of the National Gendarmerie with a knife and scissors shortly after 6:00 p.m. local time (5:00 p.m. GMT) in the Place de l’Étoile, where the Arc de Triomphe stands.

“Another gendarme has responded using his service weapon to neutralize the assailant. The attacked gendarme has not suffered injuries, since the knife has collided with the collar of his trench coat,” the authorities have indicated.

According to authorities, the attacker, born in 1978, he was of French nationality and had been sentenced to 17 years of criminal confinement by the Brussels court of first instance on June 25, 2013 for attempted murder for terrorist purposes against three police officers in Molenbeek, on June 8, 2012.

After having been imprisoned in Belgium, he was transferred to France on January 27, 2015 “following a decision recognizing the enforceability of the judgment of the Brussels court.”

The PNTA has explained that the man was released from prison on December 24, 2025 after having served his sentence.

“Since then, he was subject to monitoring within the framework of judicial surveillance ordered by the sentencing court on June 17, 2025. In addition, he was subject to an individual measure of administrative control and surveillance (MICAS),” the Prosecutor’s Office reported.

The French Minister of the Interior, Laurent Nuñez, has detailed that the attack targeted agents who were preparing the daily ceremony at the tomb of the Unknown Soldier, which is located under the Arc de Triomphe.

The attacker had called this afternoon at the Aulnay-sous-Bois police station, northeast of Paris, to declare that was going to “commit an attack” in Paris against soldiers”.

In a video broadcast by BFMTV television, the man can be seen surrounded by police officers, before being neutralized by gunfire and falling against a police van.

Apparently, according to the media, before attacking the wounded gendarme he shouted: “They should not have killed our women and children, we will see who triumphs under the Arc de Triomphe.”