Paris: Four wounded in knife attack near ex-Charlie Hebdo site, suspect arrested

French soldiers patrol after four people have been wounded in a knife attack near the former offices of satirical newspaper Charlie Hebdo, Friday Sept. 25, 2020 in Paris. A police official said officers are "actively hunting" for the perpetrators and have cordoned off the area including the former Charlie Hebdo offices after a suspect package was noticed nearby. Islamic extremists attacked the offices in 2015, killing 12 people. (AP Photo/Thibault Camus)

Paris police say a suspect believed to have wounded four people in a knife attack near the former offices of satirical newspaper Charlie Hebdo has been arrested.

A Paris police official said that while authorities initially thought two attackers were involved, they now believe it was only one person, who was detained near the Bastille plaza in eastern Paris.

It is unclear what motivated the attack Friday or whether it had any link to Charlie Hebdo, which moved offices after they were attacked by Islamic extremists in 2015.

Associated Press reporters at the scene saw police flooding into the neighborhood in eastern Paris, near the Richard Lenoir subway station.

Police car park outside a building after four people have been wounded in a knife attack near the former offices of satirical newspaper Charlie Hebdo, Friday Sept. 25, 2020 in Paris. (AP Photo/Thibault Camus)

Police did not release the identities of the attackers or the wounded, who include two people in “absolutely urgent” condition, the official said. The official was not authorized to be publicly named.

French police officers and rescue workers gather after four people have been wounded in a knife attack near the former offices of satirical newspaper Charlie Hebdo, Friday Sept. 25, 2020 in Paris. (AP Photo/Thibault Camus)

Prime Minister Jean Castex cut short a visit to a suburb north of Paris to head to the Interior Ministry to follow developments.

The trial in the Charlie Hebdo attacks is currently underway across town. Murmurs broke at the terrorism trial of 14 people, including 3 fugitives, accused of helping the attackers in the January 2015 killings, as the news filtered through. The widows of the Charlie Hebdo attackers are scheduled to testify Friday afternoon.

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