French authorities find Louvre attack suspect
February 9, 2017
29-year-old Egyptian Abdullah Hamamy was proven guilty of attacking soldiers with two machetes at one of the most popular museums of Paris on Fri., Feb. 3.
At the same time as the incident, hundreds of tourists were visiting the museum and were quickly evacuated in small groups.
“[We] weren’t told anything other than the inside of the museum was secure, [and] had to rely on outside news, which was very frustrating,” said Taylor Walstrum, a junior at the University of Georgia, who was visiting the Louvre and was among those within the lock down with some other students while on a study abroad program in Italy, to CNN.
President Francois Hollande stated that he doubts that it was a terrorist act.
“I salute the courage and determination showed by the military this morning at the Carrousel du Louvre,” tweeted Hollande in response to the attack.
The suspect was issued a tourist visa in Dubai on November 8 and arrived in Paris on January 26.
Hamamy currently is under arrest in the hospital as he was shot in the stomach as he confronted the soldiers at the underground plaza adjoining the museum, the Carroussel du Louvre.