French police shot dead a knife-wielding jihadi at the Arc de Triomphe in Paris, after he tried to attack an officer, according to authorities.
48-year-old Brahim Bahrir attacked police with a knife and scissors during the weekly lighting of the eternal flame at the Tomb of the Unknown Soldier, before an officer shot and killed him on the evening of Feb. 13, a police spokesperson said.
The ceremony to rekindle the flame at the Tomb of the Unknown Soldier is located directly under the arch.
Three members of the Gendarmerie Mobile Band standing underneath the monument appear to have been the targets of the attack, with one being slightly injured from a knife wound sustained during the incident.
No bystanders were injured.
The police spokesperson stated that Bahrir was shot four times and was taken to the Georges Pompidou European Hospital in critical condition, before dying from his injuries an hour after arrival.
Bahrir, who was a French national, had a prior criminal history and was previously convicted in Belgium on terrorism-related charges.
He committed a 2012 knife attack in Brussels, where he stabbed two police officers and was sentenced to 17 years in prison before being released in Dec. 2025.
“A man attempted to attack members of the gendarmerie with a knife, including members of the gendarmerie band who were preparing for the ceremony. This individual attempted to take the life of a gendarme," French Interior Minister Laurent Nunez said.
Nunez also said on X that he expressed his “full support to the officer who intervened and acted with composure and determination in the face of the terrorist threat."
French intelligence (DGSI) had the suspect, who lived in the northern Paris suburb of Seine-Saint-Denis, under surveillance, and he was registered under the Micas program due to terrorism concerns.
French authorities confirmed that Bahrir was linked to an attempted terrorist plot after the national anti-terrorism prosecutor’s office took charge of the case and opened a preliminary investigation.
A police source told AFP that Bahrir had called called the Aulnay-sous-Bois police station near the Paris suburb where he lived earlier and announced that he was going to "carry out a massacre."
Before he carried out the attacks, Bahrir warned: "Our women and children should not have been killed. We’ll see who triumphs under the Arc de Triomphe."
French President Emmanuel Macron said: "At the Arc de Triomphe this evening, while the Flame was being rekindled, a terrorist attack targeted the Republican Guard,"
"I salute the exemplary courage and composure of our gendarmes and our Sentinelle soldiers: they put an end to the attack and prevented the worst. I express the Nation’s solidarity with the injured gendarme." said Macron.
"We also think with emotion of the schoolchildren who were present, as well as the members of the Flame Committee. In the face of Islamist terrorism, the republican flame will always resist."
The Arc de Triomphe was closed to the public after the incident and nearby metro stations were shut down for security reasons, according to Paris public transport operator RATP.
Help us continue to report the increase in domestic terrorism in the United States. Join VIP and use promo code FIGHT to get 60% off your membership.
Join the conversation as a VIP Member