Friend, parents of Paris knife attacker detained for questioning by French authorities

French judicial official says friend of dead Paris knife attacker has been detained for questioning in Strasbourg.

The man behind a deadly stabbing in central Paris, who was originally from Chechnya, had been on police radar for radicalism, another official said. The attacker’s parents are also under questioning. Counterterrorism investigators are leading the probe into Saturday’s attack near the Paris opera house, which was claimed by the Islamic State group.

0:28 Panic in central Paris as crowd flees from scene of knife attack

• Panic in central Paris as crowd flees from scene of knife attack
• Police on scene of reported knife attack in France

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The judicial official told The Associated Press that while the alleged assailant had no record of arrests or convictions, he had been on a nationwide database of thousands of people suspected of links to radicalism. The official wasn’t authorized to be publicly named speaking about an ongoing investigation.

The assailant was killed by police after fatally stabbing one man and injuring four other people.

Authorities say the attacker was born in the majority Muslim Russian republic of Chechnya, which has long grappled with extremism. The Russian Embassy in France wouldn’t comment Sunday.