Paris knife attack leaves at least 4 police officers dead

At least four police officers have been killed in a knife attack at Paris Police Headquarters.

The assailant, who was shot and killed, is a man who had worked for more than 20 years as an administrative employee at the police headquarters, The New York Times reports. The stabbing, which took place at about 1:00 p.m. local time, also left one person injured, NBC News reports.

The Washington Post notes this attack comes just a day after officers in Paris protested violence they face on the job and raised attention to a rise in police suicides.

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Île de la Cité, the island where the police headquarters and the Notre Dame Cathedral are located, was placed on lockdown following the attack, CNN reports. Additional information, including the motive of the assailant, is not yet known.

Paris Mayor Anne Hidalgo tweeted Thursday that Paris is "mourning her own this afternoon after this appalling attack," per the Post, also saying that "in my name and that of Parisians, my first thoughts go to the families of the victims and their relatives."