At least four officers killed in knife attack at Paris police headquarters

anouchka/iStock(PARIS) — A knife-wielding man attacked officers inside police headquarters in the heart of Paris on Thursday afternoon.

According to local media reports, at least four police officers died in the midday attack.

Paris Mayor Anne Hidalgo wrote on Twitter in French that “several” police officers lost their lives in the “appalling attack.”

“The toll is heavy,” she tweeted.

A police union official told French broadcaster BFM TV that the assailant was a police department employee.

He was reportedly shot and killed at the scene, and the motive is unknown.