A man suspected of attacking three women with two kitchen knives in Paris on Monday morning has been arrested, French Interior Minister Laurent Nuñez said.
The attack happened at about 11.30 at Porte de Clichy in the north-west of the capital, according to the Paris police prefecture.
Emergency services treated the three identified victims at the scene before taking them to hospital. Two of them were seriously injured in the attack.
Police said the suspect, who was carrying two bladed weapons, injured several people before being quickly detained.
Nuñez said the man was arrested by an off-duty police officer from the Paris police prefecture, praising the officer’s courage.
None of the three injured women is in a life-threatening condition, the minister said at midday after the cabinet meeting.
However, he said two of the women were in a critical condition and had suffered serious injuries. One was wounded in the lower back and the other in the abdomen. The third woman was injured less seriously.
The victims are aged 19, 24 and 36, Nuñez said.
He added that the suspect had provided only a self-declared identity and was making incoherent statements, urging caution over the motive for what he described as an extremely violent act.
France’s national anti-terrorism prosecutor’s office told AFP it was monitoring the situation at this stage.
