Solider shoots armed attacker outside Louvre Museum in Paris

A French soldier opened fire on a suspect after he was attacked outside the Louvre Museum in Paris Friday morning. Authorities said the attacker was shot five times and was gravely wounded.

The Paris police chief said the attacker shouted “God is great” in Arabic as he charged at soldiers and police officers near the museum. The attacker was carrying two backpacks. Authorities said the backpacks were searched, but did not contain any explosives. One soldier suffered a minor injury.

A police union official said the man attacked soldiers when they told him he couldn’t go into an underground shopping mall beneath the museum with his bags. The union official said the attacker was carrying two machetes.

Authorities evacuated the area around the museum following the attack. The museum in the heart of Paris is one of the French capital’s most popular tourist attractions.

Soldiers patrol the area as part of heightened security following terror attacks in France in the last two years.

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