A French soldier has been hospitalized after being stabbed Monday while on patrol outside a major train station in Paris. At least one suspect has been arrested in the attack, according to officials in Paris, as the city prepares to host the 2024 Olympics.
The as-yet unidentified soldier was hospitalized with a shoulder blade injury, but was not in life-threatening condition, the Paris prosecutor’s office said in a statement, according to The Associated Press.
Interior Minister Gérald Darmanin said in a post on X that the soldier had been patrolling at the Gare de l’Est train station in eastern Paris when the attack unfolded. He added that the soldier was on patrol as part of Operation Sentinel, an ongoing French military operation launched in the wake of the 2015 Paris attacks.
The suspect, a man born in the Republic of Congo, cried out « God is great » as he attacked the soldier, a police source familiar with the investigation told NBC News. He was quickly apprehended by other military members patrolling the area, the source said.
The suspect, who has not been publicly identified, was known to police as having a psychiatric disorder and was previously involved in a murder case, the source added.
An investigation into the incident is still underway, but authorities said they did not suspect terrorism as a motive at this point in the probe, the national counterterrorism prosecutor’s office said.
Paris is expected to deploy some 30,000 police officers each day for the upcoming Olympics, which will run from July 26 to Aug. 11, according to the AP. At least 45,000 officers are expected to be deployed for the opening ceremony on the Seine river, however, while some 18,000 military members are also expected to assist with security during the games, the news agency reported.
France has been on high alert after raising its national security alert system to its highest level following a deadly attack earlier this year at a concert hall in Moscow that was claimed by ISIS.
The Associated Press and Nancy Ing contributed.
