Police shoot & injure attacker armed with hammer near Notre Dame in Paris (WATCH LIVE)

Police have shot and injured a man who attacked officers with a hammer near Notre Dame Cathedral in Paris, injuring one of them. The attacker was also armed with two knives, according to French media.

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The regional secretary of the police union Alliance told BFM TV that one officer was hit in the head with the hammer, prompting police to fire at the attacker.

The man shouted "this is for Syria" as he attacked, according to French interior minister Gerard Collomb.

Two police sources cited by Reuters said the officers shot the man in the thorax after he attacked. 

The attacker had also threatened passers-by before targeting the two police officers, according to BFM TV.

Collomb said the man carried the identity card of an Algerian student and appeared to have acted alone. 

Paris police initially tweeted that an "intervention" was taking place in the square in front of the cathedral, and asked people to avoid the area. 

🔴Parvis de #NotreDame Intervention en cours des effectifs de police, évitez le secteur

— Préfecture de police (@prefpolice) June 6, 2017

Witnesses cited by the Telegraph said they saw a man lying on the ground at the scene.

Footage posted online by RT en Francais reporter Jonathan Moadab showed armed police and an ambulance near the scene.

Police later said on Twitter that the attacker had been "neutralized" and taken to hospital.

🔴 Parvis de #NotreDame Situation maîtrisée, un policier blessé, l"auteur des faits a été neutralisé et orienté vers un hôpital

— Préfecture de police (@prefpolice) June 6, 2017

Visitors inside the cathedral at the time of the incident were not allowed to leave. 

Karine Dalle, a spokeswoman for the Paris diocese, told BFM TV that 900 people were inside the cathedral as police secured the area.

A photo posted on Twitter showed cathedral visitors raising their hands, reportedly at the instruction of police. 

French counterterrorism authorities have opened an investigation into the incident, according to the French Prosecutor’s Office.

Notre Dame Cathedral is one of the most popular tourist sites in Paris, attracting an estimated 13.6 million visitors a year.

France has been under a state of emergency since November 2015, when terrorist attacks left 130 people dead in Paris.