PARIS — Seven people were injured by a knife-wielding assailant in Paris on Sunday night, including two British tourists, French news reports said.

The attacker was arrested by the police, and the assault was not initially being treated as terrorism. His motives and identity were not immediately known.

A spokesman for the Paris police prefecture confirmed that several people had been wounded in the 19th Arrondissement, in the northeast of the French capital, but said it was unclear exactly how many people were attacked, or whether the assailant was also hurt. The spokesman declined to comment further.

The assailant, armed with a knife and a metal bar, attacked three people near a cinema on the Quai de la Loire, shortly before 11 p.m., according to the newspaper Le Parisien and the news channel BFM TV.