Attacker fatally stabs police employee near Paris, Macron calls it terrorism

A man fatally stabbed a police administrative worker as she walked into a police station in a Paris commuter town on Friday, and President Emmanuel Macron said France had again been the victim of a terrorist attack.

The attacker stabbed the woman in the throat, two security sources said.

Macron identified the victim as Stephanie and said the nation stood by her family’s side.

“We will stop at nothing in our resolute fight against Islamist terrorism,” Macron tweeted from his presidential jet as he flew back from Chad.

The attacker was shot dead by police officers.

France’s anti-terror prosecutor said he was leading the investigation because the assailant had previously scouted out the site and because of what he said during the attack.

A judicial source close to the investigation said the attacker had shouted “Allahu Akbar”, or “God is Greatest”.

The attacker was a Tunisian national residing in France on legitimate papers, the security officials said. BFM TV reported that he had lived in France illegally before obtaining a residency card, which was due to expire later this year.

He was not previously known to France’s intelligence agencies, a third security source added.

Prime Minister Jean Castex said France had lost an “everyday heroine” to an act of infinite cowardice.

FIGHT AGAINST ISLAMIST EXTREMISM

The police station was located on a leafy residential street in Rambouillet, a middle-class town about 50 km (31 miles) southwest of Paris.