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Man shot dead at Paris police station was wearing fake explosives vest

Posted at 8:03 AM, Jan 07, 2016
and last updated 2016-01-07 08:03:28-05

PARIS (AP) — The latest on a shooting at a Paris police station. All times local:

1:35 p.m.

Two French officials say a man shot dead outside a Paris police station was wearing a fake explosives vest.

The two officials, who spoke on condition of anonymity to discuss the ongoing investigation, said he had wires protruding from his body. They said he has not yet been identified.

One of the officials said the man threatened officers at the police station in northern Paris with a butcher’s knife.

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1:15 p.m.

An official says the man shot dead in front of a Paris police station rushed up to officers at the entrance, threatening them with a knife, and was immediately shot dead.

Yvan Assioma, of the police union Alliance, said tension was high on the anniversary of the attacks against the Charlie Hebdo newspaper, which left two police officers dead a year ago Thursday.

“The alert is constant,” he told the broadcast network iTele. The Paris prosecutor’s office said it was investigating.

Sirens are wailing and schools are in lockdown in the Paris neighborhood. At least a dozen riot police vans are blocking off the area in the Goutte d’Or district.

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1 p.m.

A Paris police official says officers are investigating an attack on a police station in the French capital as potential “terrorism.”

The attacker, armed with a knife, was killed by police. The attack Thursday came as France marks one year since Islamic extremists attacked satirical newspaper Charlie Hebdo.

The police official said police are viewing the incident as “more likely terrorism” than a standard criminal act. The official spoke on condition of anonymity because of police policy.

Luc Poignant, a police union official, said the man may have been wearing an explosives vest, and cried out “Allahu Akbar” or ‘God is great’ in Arabic.

Police sealed off the area around the station.

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12:55 p.m.

French officials say a man armed with a knife was shot to death by officers at a police station in northern Paris.

Two officials say the man had wires extending from his clothing, and an explosives squad is on site.

The two officials, who spoke on condition of anonymity because the investigation was ongoing, said the shooting came shortly after noon on Thursday, the anniversary of the attacks against the Charlie Hebdo newspaper.

Minutes before, French President Francois Hollande had paid homage to police officers killed in the line of duty, including three police shot to death last January.

Police said the neighborhood in northern Paris was locked down after the shooting.

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