France: Police Shoot Knifeman at Train Station

French police shot and wounded a knife-wielding man in Montparnasse train station in central Paris on Friday, the city prosecutor's office said.

A police officer shot the 34-year-old man in the leg and he then stabbed himself in the throat, the prosecutor's office said in a statement, adding: 'He was quickly taken care of by emergency services.'

Reuters was told by a police source that the man was in hospital with life-threatening injuries.

One passer-by was hit in the foot by a shot fired by police, the prosecutor's statement said.

The man had waved a knife at officers who were waiting for him at Montparnasse as part of an investigation of domestic violence carried out by police in a southern suburb of Paris.

He had reportedly threatened to kill his wife and children.

A Reuters photographer who was at the station when the incident occurred said it had caused panic among commuters and weekend travellers, just a day after France marked the 10th anniversary of the attacks by jihadists at the Bataclan Theater and other locations in Paris which killed 130 people.

Witness Elvire Vaisee said: 'The memory of the attacks on November 13 (2015) is still there, I thought to myself, "Here we go again." Suddenly I felt really stressed.'

An eyewitness told BFM TV he heard a loud bang before panic broke out around him.

'It took me two or three seconds to realize what was happening. People started saying, "We have to get out of here, we have to leave quickly," so that got my heart racing and I got up and ran.'

Part of the station remains closed as police carry out an investigation.

The rest of the station is reportedly operating as normal, though delays are expected.