A man used a hammer in attacking and injuring a Paris police officer near the popular site Notre Dame Cathedral before being shot Tuesday. Another police officer shot the attacker.
Authorities have posted a message on Twitter saying the situation is now under control even as they asked people to stay away from the area for the meantime.
Paris police officials have not clarified whether the incident is being considered terror-related, but French counter-terrorism police are handling the investigation.
Cedric Michel, a police union official, told the media that a man armed with a hammer went after the police officer who was patrolling at the time on the esplanade in front of the famous Cathedral. Michel said the attacker was immediately neutralized by the police.
It remains unclear whether the attacker acted alone in planning and carrying out the attack, as further investigation is ongoing and authorities are gathering more information.
Social media showed images of people inside the cathedral holding their hands up. Paris has been the target of several terror attacks in recent years, most recently at the Louvre just this February when a man wielding two machetes was shot and seriously wounded by the police. Authorities said then that the machete-wielding man then wanted to carry out a terrorist incident.