A KNIFEMAN who killed four people including a female cop at a police HQ in Paris was a deaf IT worker in the building where the bloody atrocity took place, it was revealed tonight.

Michael Harpon is said to have entered the building next door to Notre Dame Cathedral with a ceramic knife before launching into a bloody rampage during a "moment of madness".

10 The knifeman lies dead after being shot dead by a hero cop on his break Credit: LE POINT

10 Cops cordoned off the area around the Paris police station after the attack in which four officers died Credit: Reuters

10 French soldiers with assault rifles guard the scene of the killings Credit: Associated Press

10 An air ambulance hovers over a Paris bridge in the aftermath of the incident Credit: Reuters

The 45 year old - who had reportedly recently converted to Islam - stabbed multiple people before being shot dead by a hero cop after fleeing into a courtyard.

The policeman, who was on a break at the time, shouted three times for him to stop before opening fire twice, it has been reported.

The knifeman's fifth victim - also a woman - was reportedly rushed to hospital with serious injuries after he was gunned down.

Harpon had worked in the IT department at the Paris Police Prefecture since 2003, it was revealed tonight.

Within hours of the attack, cops had raided his flat in Gonesse, a suburb about 12 miles from the scene of the attack.

There was no official word on the motive for the attack, but police union leader Jean-Marc Bailleul said it wasn't terror, telling BFM TV: "It was a moment of madness."

A source earlier said: "[The knifeman] was involved in an argument with someone and then erupted in anger, targeting other police colleagues before being neutralised.

The police were in a panic, they were running everywhere" Witness

"The attacker is believed to have been an administrative officer working in a secure part of the building – making it very easy for him to walk around freely. He would have had security clearance."

The attack happened in Paris’s historic police headquarters at around 1pm, in the very centre of the city, next to Notre Dame Cathedral.

The assailant - a 20-year civilian employee of the Paris police force - was armed with a ceramic knife which could not be picked up by metal detectors used by the building’s security, according to sources quoted by one local website.

One witness described the panic after gunshots rang out when the attacker was killed.

He told Le Parisien: “I heard a shot, I think it was around 12.30.

“Around me there were only policemen. They immediately unsheathed their weapons.”

He added: “Then a few moments later I saw policewomen in tears. I thought it must be serious.

“The police were in a panic, they were running everywhere. Many people were crying. "

10 Emergency vehicles descended on the scene after the knife rampage Credit: EPA

10 A masked cop clad in black inside the police cordon in Paris Credit: EPA

10 Soldiers joined police at the cordon around the crime scene Credit: Reuters

10 An air ambulance helicopter landed in the street after the attack Credit: AFP or licensors

The attack appears to have started in an office before the attacker rampaged through the large police compound, police union official Loic Travers said.

He charged down the stairs stabbing more officers before reaching a large courtyard where he was neutralised, according to BFM TV.

He was shot dead after running into a hero cop who was on his lunch break after he failed to heed demands to drop his weapon, according to Le Parisien.

A witness told the paper: "The policeman who was taking a break on duty called out three times but the assailant did not stop.

"He fired two shots and I saw the man fall."

Within a few minutes of the bloodbath, the area went into lockdown with streets shut, and scores of armed officers flooding the area.

The dead man is said to have belonged to the Directorate of Intelligence of the Prefecture of Police, or DRPP.

Serious concerns have been expressed this year about the psychological frailty of police staff in France.

A brigadier who shot himself in the head with his own service pistol in front of shocked colleagues has become the 50th French police officer to kill themself last month.

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The 45-year-old, who has not been named, died in the police station at Louvroil, close to the Belgium border on September 19.

President Emmanuel Macron had acknowledged that police officers have come under increasingly pressure because of growing security threats.

These include weekly demonstrations by the anti-government Gilets Jaunes – or Yellow Vests – movement, which frequently deteriorate into riots.

10 Firefighters were among the emergency workers who rushed to the scene Credit: AFP or licensors

10 The attacker is said to have used a ceramic knife in the stabbing spree Credit: AFP or licensors

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