According to the prosecutor’s office, the suspect was a Tunisian national with legal status who had just been evicted from his hotel.The attacker was a Tunisian national with legal status in France who stabbed the manager of a hotel that had just evicted him for non-payment, prosecutor Nicolas Bessone told reporters
The suspect also attacked the manager’s son, another hotel guest – who suffered the most serious injuries – and two passers-by on the street during his “criminal rampage”, Mr Bessone said.
Officers intervened and killed the man, said a police source, asking not to be named.
Interior Minister Bruno Retailleau is to travel to Marseille this evening, with a visit to the city’s police headquarters planned, his office said.
A resident who saw the incident said the suspect tried to stab officers as they attempted to arrest him.
Another eyewitness said the man was holding “two large butcher knives”.
Police cordoned off the area and put up a forensic tent in front of a fast-food restaurant.
