Knife-wielding man shot in France at gendarmerie barracks after attacking officer

A man armed with a knife has been shot by a gendarme after entering barracks and wounding an officer in the hand at Dieuze in the Moselle region of France. Local media reports said the man was immediately neutralized.

The incident happened at around 3:30PM. The officer retaliated with his tear gas canister before firing his weapon twice, the gendarmerie told AFP.

The attacker, who reportedly entered the barracks wearing civilian clothing, was injured in the abdomen and transported to Metz hospital.

While the gendarmerie said they are trying to determine the man's motives and whether the incident could be terrorism-related, a local prosecutor, Christial Mercuri, told a news conference that shortly before the incident, a call was placed to the police facility warning of a terror attack linked to the Islamic State militant group.

“We must relate the facts to a call received by the operational center of the gendarmerie shortly before, in which an individual declared that he was a soldier, that there was going to be carnage in Dieuze and that he was a member of Islamic State,” AFP quoted Mercuri as saying.

The attacker had not been known to the French counter-terrorist authorities, nor did he have any criminal record according to local media.

Officials have not yet confirmed the severity of the attacker's injuries.

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