PARIS, Nov 4 (NNN-AGENCIES) — A man who walked around the Pere Lachaise area of central Paris armed with a machete has been arrested in his hotel room, a police spokesman said.
Bystanders reported the man to police, the spokesman added.
There were no known victims at this stage and an investigation was under way, he added.
News site Actu Paris said the Rue du Chemin-Vert was closed with workers told to stay inside as police hunted the suspect.
The street was reopened at around mid-day and there are no reports of injuries.
French police have not commented on the incident yet and the man’s motives are unclear.
France is on high alert after a string of attacks feared to be terror related. Three people were killed in a stabbing at a church in Nice last week, while on Saturday a Greek Orthodox priest was left fighting for his life after being shot outside his church in Lyon.
French police have foiled several other suspected attacks, which come amid tensions over a French newspaper’s publication of caricatures mocking the Muslim Prophet Muhammad.
President Emmanuel Macron has declared the country ‘under attack’ and deployed thousands of soldiers to protect sites such as places of worship and schools.
Interior Minister Gérald Darmanin told the public to expect more attacks and said France was being targeted for its values and strident defence of free speech. — NNN-AGENCIES
