Charlie Hebdo: Terror police investigate stabbing near former offices in Paris

PARIS — French terror police have launched an investigation after at least two people were stabbed near the former offices of satirical magazine Charlie Hebdo in Paris, French officials said Friday.

Security forces wearing camouflage and carrying long guns rushed to the scene following the “serious incident,” the Interior Ministry tweeted. One suspect has been arrested, the Paris police press office confirmed to NBC News in a telephone interview.

French anti-terror police, the Parquet National Anti-Terroriste, later took over the investigation.

French Prime Minister Jean Castex tweeted that he wanted “to take stock of the situation.”

Though no longer used by Charlie Hebdo, the building in the northeast of the city was the site of an attack by Islamist gunmen that killed 12 members of the magazine’s staff in January 2015. A kosher supermarket was also attacked in a day that claimed the lives of 17 people.

Since the attack, the magazine’s staff have been subject to repeated threats and last week police took one of them from her home to a safe place due to a “concrete” threat, the police press office said.

Fourteen defendants, three of whom are being tried in absentia, are currently on trial for that attack. They face charges including “complicity” in terrorist crimes and “criminal terrorist association.”

Most say they thought they were helping plan an ordinary crime — not a terror attack, according to The Associated Press.

Earlier this month Charlie Hebdo republished controversial caricatures of the Prophet Muhammad to mark the start of the trial.

This is a breaking story, please check back for updates. Alexander Smith reported from London.

Nancy Ing

Nancy Ing is a Paris-based producer.

Alexander Smith is a senior reporter for NBC News Digital based in London.