At least 4 people killed in knife attack at Paris police headquarters

anouchka/iStock(PARIS) — A Paris police department employee killed three officers with a knife at police headquarters in the heart of the French capital on Thursday, before being shot dead at the scene, authorities said.

The alleged assailant was a 45-year-old man who had worked at the police headquarters since 2003, Paris prosecutor Remy Heitz told reporters.

Heitz said that four people had been killed and that the motive behind the attack was unknown. It was not immediately clear if the fourth person was the attacker or another individual.

Paris Mayor Anne Hidalgo wrote on Twitter in French that “several” police officers lost their lives in the “appalling attack.”

“The toll is heavy,” she tweeted.

Authorities were searching the alledged attacker’s home Thursday.

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