Paris police kill man attacking with knife

PARIS - An assailant carrying a butcher knife and wearing what appeared to be a fake suicide vest was shot and killed by police Thursday, marring the one-year anniversary of a terror siege in a city once again on edge after attacks last month.

The attacker also carried a paper with the Islamic State flag and a handwritten note in Arabic claiming responsibility for the act, according to a statement from French police.

Investigators were exploring possible links to a "terrorist undertaking," but the statement gave no further details.

French officials have identified the assailant's fingerprints as matching those of Sallah Ali, who was born in 1995 in Morocco. He was homeless at one point and had a criminal record as a thief, according to France24.

The attack came as France marked the anniversary of a terror spree that began with gunmen storming the satirical publication Charlie Hebdo. Authorities said the assailant tried to enter a police station in the northern Barbès neighborhood of the city's 18th Arrondissement shortly before noon local time.

A bomb squad examined the body for possible explosives after police spotted what appeared to be wires under his camouflage jacket. The police statement later described it as a "fake suicide vest."

Photos posted on social media showed the suspect - who had called out "Allahu akbar" as he tried to enter the police station - lying dead on the sidewalk in his jacket and blue jeans.

The Interior Minister spokesman, Pierre Henri Brandet, said it appeared the suspect acted alone. "But," he added, "we cannot rule out the possibility of complicity."

The incident occurred shortly after French President François Hollande paid tribute to the country's emergency services, which have been called on in recent months to deal with a string of terror-related cases.

"You protect the French people, you also protect their way of life, their freedom," Hollande said. "This way of life, that's what the terrorists wanted to attack. Because joy, sharing, culture inspire hatred in them. Never, undoubtedly for decades, has your mission been more necessary."