Paris officer fighting for life after police station shooting

One of two officers shot and seriously wounded at a police station in Paris was fighting for his life Friday, the police chief of the French capital said.

On Thursday night, a man arrested for allegedly attacking a woman with a box cutter shot the pair in the French capital's 13th district after grabbing one of their weapons.

"His life is still in danger," Paris police prefect Laurent Nunez told broadcaster France Info.

Nunez said the officers had responded to an "extremely violent attack" on a woman who was seriously injured.

"The man was obviously very agitated", Nunez said.

The policemen took him to the police station and had him blow into a breathalyzer when the attacker grabbed one of the weapons, said Nunez.

The suspect was wounded by return fire and hospitalized. He and the 73-year-old woman he wounded were still in hospital on Friday.

The prosecutor's office said three investigations had been launched - including "the attempted murder of the woman" and the "attempted murder of persons holding public authority."

The Paris public prosecutor's office said the 32-year-old suspect was not previously known to police and justice.

The policemen, both aged 33, could not be interviewed at the moment, a representative of the Paris public prosecutor's office told AFP, confirming the life-threatening injuries of one of them.

Police do not know whether the man knew the woman he had attacked, adding that the police officers called to the scene had to break down the door of the flat, Nunez said.