French soldiers shoot machete-wielding man who yelled 'Allahu Akbar' as he tried to enter Louvre Museum, Paris

French soldiers opened fired on a man carrying a machete and two bags as he tried to enter the Louvre Museum, Paris after yelling "Allahu Akbar". According to the police, they believe he had plans to carry out a terrorist attack.


He is said to have launched himself at the soldiers when they told him that he could not bring his bags into the Carrousel du Louvre shopping mall underneath the world-famous museum where the Mona Lisa hangs causing the building to go into emergency lock down.

He brought out a knife and tried to stab a soldier which made the  soldiers respond to the to the attack by firing five shots. Speaking on the attack, the Head, French capital police force, Mr Cadot said a solider was hurt while the attack is wounded in the stomach. "It was an attack by a person ... who represented a direct threat and whose actions suggested a terrorist context.The attacker  is wounded in the stomach. He is conscious and he was moving. Checks of the man's two backpacks found they did not contain explosives"

He also said a second person who was acting suspiciously was also arrested but appeared not to have been linked to the attack. The spokesman, French ministry of Interior, Mr. Pierre-Henry Brandet said the identity and nationality of the attacker is still unknown. The police evacuated and blocked entrance into the museum. The visitors who were already inside building were stopped from leaving.

More photos from the scene, below...