LOUVRE REOPENS AFTER MACHETE ATTACK AS EGYPT IDENTIFIES SUSPECT

Less than twenty-four hours after the Louvre shut down, due to a terror alert caused by a man with a machete who attacked a French soldier guarding the building, the museum reopened to the public.

An Egyptian interior ministry official confirmed to the Associated Press on Saturday that the attacker is twenty-eight-year-old Abdullah Reda Refaie al-Hamahmy, and said that he has no record of political activism or criminal activities.

Hamahmy yelled “Allahu akbar!” (“God is great!”) before assaulting the patrolmen who prevented the suspect from entering the Carrousel du Louvre with two large bags. The solider opened fire, shooting Hamahmy five times. The prosecutor’s office confirmed that his injuries are no longer life threatening.

Hamahmy traveled to Paris on January 26 using a tourist visa. He bought two military machetes at a gun store in Paris after booking a one-week stay at a Paris apartment in the 8th arrondissement, near the Champs-Elysees Avenue. Shortly before the attack he tweeted: “No negotiation, no compromise, no letting up, certainly no climb down, relentless war.”

On Saturday, museumgoers expressed mixed feelings about the prevented terror attack. Some people were uneasy and said that they would be cutting their trip to Paris short while others felt that the situation was handled well. Kurt Vellafonde, a tourist visiting from Malta, said, “I went around yesterday in the evening and security was everywhere. Even now, when we arrived (at the Louvre), we were checked and it’s secure. I don’t feel any threats.”