Tours · Paris · Underground mall
The Machete Attack - Carrousel du Louvre
On the morning of 3 February 2017 a man armed with a machete lunged at soldiers guarding the Louvre entrance beneath the Carrousel; a soldier fired five shots to stop him, one soldier was slightly hurt, and the attacker was wounded and arrested in what police treated as a terrorist attack.
About this place
Beneath the lawns of the Carrousel sits the inverted glass pyramid and the shopping concourse that funnels millions of visitors down into the Louvre. Because it is one of the busiest gateways in Paris, soldiers patrol it day and night under France's standing anti-terror operation. On the morning of 3 February 2017 that presence was tested. A man carrying machetes in his bags rushed at the troops near the entrance, and in the struggle a soldier opened fire to stop him. The attacker was seriously wounded and detained; one soldier was lightly injured. Around 250 visitors inside the museum were evacuated while bomb-disposal teams checked his bags, which held no explosives. Prosecutors opened a terrorism inquiry, and the Louvre reopened the very next day. This stop is told for the people who stood their ground, not for the man who attacked them.
Key facts
- 5 shots — The number of shots a soldier fired to stop the attacker as he lunged with a blade.
- 250 visitors — Roughly how many people were evacuated from the museum while the scene was secured.
- 24 hours — The Louvre reopened to the public about a day after the attack.
📍 Place du Carrousel, 75001, Paris