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Convicted killer goes on knife attack in France before he's gunned down by police

The suspect in the attack in Marseille had previously been behind bars for killing his father, and the incident is not being considered as terrorism.
Image:
French police and emergency workers intervene in the Canebiere district in Marseille, on Feb. 19, 2019, after a man stabbed two passersby before being himself injured by police by firearm.Boris Hovat / AFP - Getty Images

PARIS — Police in the south of France shot and killed a man Tuesday, shortly after he stabbed three people and pulled a gun on responding officers, authorities said.

The attacker had spent 14 years behind bars for killing his father, and Tuesday's deadly confrontation is not being considered an act of terrorism, French Interior Minister Christophe Castaner told France Info radio.

The knife attack happened in the center of Marseille at 4:30 p.m. local time (10:30 a.m. ET), French national police told NBC News.

All three stabbing victims are expected to survive their wounds, officials said. A fourth person suffered a shrapnel wound.

After the 36-year-old man stabbed the three pedestrians, officers approached him and he dropped the knife. But then he pulled out a handgun and shot at the officers, who returned fire, fatally wounding him, authorities said.

The officers were not hurt.

Ing reported from Paris and Li from New York