Paris Police Shooting on the Anniversary of Charlie Hebdo Attacks

• By Sydny Shepard
• Jan 07, 2016

Police shot and killed a man wielding a cleaver after he tried to enter a northern Paris police station, French authorities said. Witnesses said the man was shouting “Allahu Akbar” and wore a pouch of what appeared to be explosives, but turned out to be fake.

The attack in Barbes, near the police station in Goutte D’Or, took place on the one-year anniversary of the Charlie Hebdo killings, the first deadly jihadist attacks that have roiled the French capital over the past 12 months.

In those attacks, two gunman killed 12 people in an assault on the offices of the French satirical magazine, which had angered Islamists for its disrespectful approach and publication of cartoons of the Prophet Mohammed.

There was a heavy police presence around the scene in the aftermath of the scene and residents were advised to remain indoors. A school on the same street of the police station was in lockdown.

Terrorism experts have noted that jihadists have not shown any particular interest in striking on the anniversaries of terror attacks despite the sensitivities around the dates. This makes experts think the man acted alone and that Parisians shouldn’t be worried about follow up attacks.

Terrorism expert Jean-Charlies Brisard, president of the Center for Analysis of Terrorism, noted that the attack occurred in Paris’ 18^th arrondissement, which could have a symbolic connection to the ISIS-claimed November 2015 attacks that killed 130 people rather than the Charlie Hebdo attacks.