French interior minister Gérald Darmanin praised the quick response of officers when talking to reporters about the incident, which happened around 6:42 a.m. local time.

“Without the extremely rapid intervention,there would surely be deaths,” Darmanin said about the incident, which saw armed officers fire three shots at the unnamed suspect within a minute of the attack being reported.

Soon after, Darmanin arrived at the train station and tweeted that thesuspect had been “neutralized.”

“At 6:42, the first acts were described. At 6:43, the police used their administrative weapon after his passage of violence,” Darmanin added, per NBC.

“Thankful to the police for their effective and courageous response,” Darmanin said in a follow-up tweet.

Knife attack at Paris train station.Christophe Petit Tesson/EPA-EFE/Shutterstock

French police officers stand in the train station Gare du Nord after securing the scene of a knife attack, in Paris, France, 11 January 2023. A knife-wielding man injured six, police said, before police shot him. Six injured in knife atttack at Gare de Nord in Paris, France - 11 Jan 2023

“We saw two people on the ground. One was hitting the other. People tried to pull them apart and that’s when the attacker pulled out his weapon,” said Lili. “People started yelling ‘knife!’ and began running away. I helped the first victim who had been attacked and I got the impression that the individual was attacking all the people who tried to get near him and overpower him.”

Knife attack at Paris train station.JULIEN DE ROSA/AFP via Getty

French police cordon off an area at Paris' Gare du Nord train station, after several people were lightly wounded by a man wielding a knife on January 11, 2023. - The man was arrested by police at the station, which serves as a hub for trains to London and northern Europe, after they opened fire and wounded him, said a police source, who asked not to be named.

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“I helped the injured person who had been attacked and was in a state of shock,” Lili continued. “I brought them to the police and I then tried to find my friends and that’s when we heard the gunshots. The armed forces responded very quickly to the attack. It didn’t even last five minutes even though it felt like an eternity to me.”

Police officers guard at the train station Gare du Nord after securing the scene of a knife attack, in Paris, France, 11 January 2023. A knife-wielding man injured six, police said, before police shot him. Six injured in knife atttack at Gare de Nord in Paris, France - 11 Jan 2023

The Paris Prosecutor’s Office told CNN that both the suspect and one of his victims are incritical condition in the hospital. Themotive for the knife attackis unknown.

A large police presence remained at the station’s main concourse throughout the day, blocking access to several intercity train platforms, reported CNN. The Eurostar service connecting France to the U.K. was also stopped for several hours but later reopened.

The Paris Prosecutor’s Office didn’t immediately respond to PEOPLE’s request for additional comment.

source: people.com