Knife-wielding man shot by police after attacking six people at Gare du Nord

A knife-wielding man who attacked six people at Gare du Nord train station in Paris on Wednesday morning has been shot by police, authorities have said.

The attacker was shot several times and taken to hospital with serious injuries, police said.

The man's motivations were not immediately clear, the force added.

One police source told Reuters the officer who shot the attacker was off-duty.

Interior Minister Gerald Darmanin said the attacker was "rapidly neutralised."

Several passengers and a border police officer were among the wounded, according to officials.

The officer was stabbed in the back by the assailant, but was saved by a bulletproof vest, Darmanin said.

Another one of the other victims was seriously injured in the shoulder blade and taken for emergency treatment.

Five more people sustained minor injuries.

Darmanin thanked the police "for their effective and courageous reaction.”

"Without the extremely rapid intervention, there would surely be deaths,” he said, detailing how the knifeman was neutralized within one minute of attacking his first victim.

“At 6:42, the first acts were described. At 6:43, the police used their administrative weapon after his passage of violence," he said.

He said the unnamed assailant was currently “between life and death” in a hospital.The station is one of the busiest in Europe and a major link between Paris, London and the north of Europe.Police secured the area following the attack, which happened around 6.45AM local time.

The commotion also caused serious disruptions to train services at the station — Europe's busiest rail artery — in the early morning rush hour, according to the national railway company SNCF.

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