A man armed with a knife was shot dead by French police during a ceremony at the Arc de Triomphe in Paris on Friday (13). The incident took place during the renewal of the flame at the Tomb of the Unknown Soldier, prompting an anti-terrorism investigation. President Emmanuel Macron described the act as a terrorist attack.
The incident occurred around 18:00 local time (14:00 Brasília time) on Friday, February 13, 2026, in Paris's 8th arrondissement, during the traditional ceremony to relight the flame at the Tomb of the Unknown Soldier, a symbolic ritual started in 1923 to honor French combatants killed in wars.
According to reports, the attacker, identified as Brahim B., a 48-year-old French national born in 1978 and living in Aulnay-sous-Bois on the northern outskirts of Paris, advanced with a knife toward a military band or security agents. Accounts differ: one states he tried to stab a musician from the Republican Guard, who sustained light injuries, while another mentions an attempt on police officers. Police responded with gunfire—four shots in total, three hitting the suspect's torso and leg, per one account. Brahim B. was taken to Georges Pompidou Hospital, near the Eiffel Tower, but died hours later.
Brahim B. was known to authorities and under administrative surveillance by the Interior Ministry. He had served a 17-year sentence in Belgium for the attempted murder of police officers in 2012 in Molenbeek: reports vary between two or three officers injured. At the time, he cited revenge for Belgium's burqa ban. Released about two months ago, at the end of 2025, he was required to report daily to police. Fifteen minutes before the incident, he reportedly called authorities warning he would "shoot at someone armed".
France's anti-terrorism prosecutor's office took over the case and opened a preliminary inquiry, with no details on the motivation yet, according to Interior Minister Laurent Nuñez. President Emmanuel Macron, traveling in Germany, posted on social media: "I salute the exemplary courage and cool-headedness of our police and military: they ended the attack and prevented the worst." For security, access to the site was closed, traffic at Place de l'Étoile halted, and Charles de Gaulle–Étoile metro station temporarily shut.
