Four killed in Paris police stabbing, attacker shot dead

A knife-wielding man working at police headquarters in central Paris went on a rampage Thursday, stabbing and killing four employees before himself being shot dead, officials said.

A fifth person who was critically injured was being treated in hospital after what was the deadliest attack on police in France in years.

Paris prosecutor Remy Heitz said that the attacker, a 45-year-old employee from the IT department in the police intelligence section, had killed three men and a woman before being killed in the courtyard of the square stone building on the Ile de la Cite.

Three of the dead were police officers and the four was an administrative assistant, he told reporters at the scene.

Speaking alongside him, Interior Minister Christophe Castaner said the attacker had been working for the police since 2003 and had "never shown any behaviour problems".

The police were "particularly stricken by this exceptionally grave incident", he said.

The police building was cordoned off after the ...