Man Carrying IS Emblem Shot Dead By Paris Cops

A man carrying an Islamic State emblem has been shot dead outside a Paris police station after reportedly attacking officers with a butcher's knife.

Police sources said the man had attempted to enter the building with the knife and wires extending from his clothing.

A bomb disposal team was sent to the scene and established that the vest was fake.

The apparent attacker was carrying "a mobile phone and a piece of paper on which the flag of Daesh (IS) was printed, as well as an unequivocal claim handwritten in Arabic", the Paris prosecutor said.

The man's fingerprints matched those of a homeless man who was convicted of theft in 2013, police sources said.

The Moroccan-born man, 20, identified himself at the time as Sallah Ali.

BFMTV has been told the piece of paper pledged allegiance to IS leader Abu Bakr al Baghdadi and mentioned "acts to avenge the dead in Syria".

The TV channel also reported that the flag was drawn in black ink - most likely using a felt tip - and that Arabic and German messages were found on the man's mobile phone.

Officers cleared hundreds of people from the surrounding streets but officials later said they believed no others were involved in the attack.

It happened a year to the day since the deadly terror attack on the offices of the Charlie Hebdo magazine, and at about the same time.

Anna Polonyi, an editor with the International New York Times, posted a picture of a bomb disposal robot being used to inspect the man's body.

Polonyi said the man had been running towards the building when he was shot at about 12pm local time (11am UK time).

The man was heard shouting "Allahu Akbar" as he approached, the Interior Ministry and prosecutor's office said - a claim disputed by several witnesses.

Pictures posted on social media showed a man in jeans and a grey jacket lying with his arms out at his sides on the pavement, yards from the entrance to the police station.

A resident in the street told Le Parisien: "I heard three or four gunshots at about midday. I work nights, so that woke me up.

"When I went to the window I saw that there was one person on the ground with blood on his body.

"Right now there is no-one in the street. All the shops have closed their shutters and everything is locked down."

The incident happened minutes after French President Francois Hollande paid tribute to police officers killed in the line of duty, including those killed in the Charlie Hebdo attacks .

Residents near the scene in Rue de la Goutte d'Or in the 18th arrondissement were told to shut their windows and keep off their balconies and schools kept pupils indoors as police locked down the area.

Footage showed officers ordering one man to put his hands against a wall before searching him, while another man was held by police after offering to show Sky News a video taken at the scene .