Pizzeria owner's son brandishes knife, holds four employees hostage in Paris

A man armed with a knife took several employees hostage Saturday at a pizzeria in the southwestern suburbs of Paris, prompting a large police response, authorities said.

The incident unfolded in the town of Issy-les-Moulineaux, located just beyond the Paris ring road, around 1 pm local time (noon GMT). The man reportedly locked himself inside the restaurant, which is owned by his father, and held “three or four employees,” a police source told AFP.

No customers or members of the public were among the hostages, according to the source.

Police quickly established a security perimeter around the pizzeria, and a mediator was sent to the scene to negotiate with the man, whose motives remain unclear.

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“Intervention is in progress,” the Paris police prefecture said in a post on X, the platform formerly known as Twitter. “Let security and emergency services do their job.”

The situation drew significant attention in the otherwise quiet suburban neighborhood. Authorities urged residents to avoid the area as heavily armed police worked to defuse the standoff.

By late afternoon, there was no immediate word on whether the hostages had been released or if the man had surrendered. Police provided no further details about the incident, which remains under investigation.

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With inputs from AFP