PARIS (Sputnik) — On Tuesday afternoon, a 40-year-old man of Algerian descent armed with a hammer attacked the policemen near the cathedral. During the attack, the man reportedly shouted references to Syria, and later details indicated that he called himself a "soldier of the caliphate."The attacker was later hospitalized with bullet wound after being neutralized by police. One of the police officers received minor injuries as a result of a hammer blow.
Early on Wednesday law enforcement officers searched a house in the town of Cergy-Pontoise in the department of Val-d'Oise, where the attacker lived. The man himself is currently in custody at the hospital.
The counterterrorist unit of the Paris prosecutor's office opened an investigation into the incident.
