An off-duty police officer in Paris detained a man who attacked three women with knives on Monday, the French Interior Minister Laurent Nunez said.
The incident occurred near Porte de Clichy at around 11:30 am on Monday.
The accused man, aged 31, used two kitchen knives to attack the women. He was apprehended by police on the scene. Police said that he suffered from psychiatric problems. The victims were aged 19, 24 and 36. Two are in a critical condition.
One of the women sustained a lower back injury, while the other sustained an abdominal injury.
The third woman sustained only minor injuries and is in a stable condition. One of the women was pregnant, Geoffroy Boulard, the mayor of the 17th arrondissement of Paris, said on X.
After the attack, a man suspected of being the perpetrator was arrested by an off-duty police officer with the help of a passerby.
Nunez said that the man only gave them a self-reported identity and was speaking “ incoherently”. The motive of the attack remains unclear.
He also urged everyone to "remain very cautious regarding the motives for this extremely violent act."
Kheira Dellabed, 54, a waitress at a nearby restaurant, told AFP that she was doing the dishes when the suspect attacked the women.
One man with a suitcase hit the suspect with the suitcase, and a waiter from a neighbouring restaurant put a chair on top of him, she said. Kheira also said that the man lost his knives when he was confronted. The police arrived about 20 minutes later.
The Paris prosecutor’s office indicated that the anti-terrorism prosecutors were notified. According to sources, however, the office did not take up the case.
Le Parisien reported that a source close to the investigation said the man suffered from psychiatric problems and that he said that “Allah sent me to kill women”
The investigation was opened for attempted aggravated homicide. The investigation has been entrusted to the first district of the judicial police. The Alliance police union expressed its "immense respect for our off-duty colleague, who intervened with composure to neutralise the attacker and prevent an even more dramatic outcome."
A similar incident occurred in late 2025 at the Paris metro. Three women were injured by a knife-wielding 25-year-old man. His custody was lifted after he was found to have psychiatric conditions.
